Beautiful Disaster
by charlibubble
Summary: Nick/OC - A case throws Nick into the life of his suspect's daughter and their love/hate relationship blurs the lines of professionalism as they try to outrun the inevitable revenge hit.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I promised a New Nicky story a million years ago so here it is at last! This is complete - total of 10 chapters - Will get it up once a week, probably Wednesday's. Hope you all like - drop me a review if you do ;) Charli xx**

Nick tapped the steering wheel to the rhythm of the music as he weaved in and out of the unexplainably busy traffic. It was normally clear on Tropicana at this time of night, rush hour hit in Vegas at the exact same times it hit everywhere else. He knew it was most likely due to the fact that he was attending a 4-19 a few blocks away but closing the street was normally a last resort for the police and Nick began to wonder exactly what lay in store as he tossed his blue light in the window and mounted the pavement.

The yellow crime scene tape fluttered in the fresh breeze as he sauntered out of his department issue Denali. Brass approached him immediately, his expression sombre with a hint of concern. As he got closer he began to pick up on details of the scene before him.

A large truck sat halfway up the sidewalk, its front end crushed against a lamp post. The airbag hanging limply from the steering wheel like a used plastic bag. The victim lay on the ground surrounded by a pool of blood, Super Dave crouched over him almost unnecessarily. The two gunshot wounds were more than obvious and the police had corralled the numerous witnesses into a holding pen on the corner. This had been a hit; the signs were all there and whoever was responsible had took little effort to cover it up.

"Who's the Vic?" Nick asked, knowing it was going to be a name he recognised.

"Joey Clinton" Brass sighed. "Terry Clinton's only surviving son"

The two men paused to look over the scene before them, knowing the significance of this murder. Vegas was about to become the setting for a messy battle. This hadn't been an accident and Terry wasn't the type to take these things lightly.

Terry Clinton was head of a large, and very intelligently ran, crime family. He and his associate; Frankie Gordon owned a large chunk of the casino's in Vegas. Controlling a lot of the cash flow into the town among other things. The police had never been able to pin a crime on either of them despite their notorious reputation. Joey had been pegged as a prodigy of his fathers, following easily in his footsteps after his brother died in an apparent suicide a number of years ago.

"This isn't going to be pretty" Nick commented, stepping under the tape and surveying his scene.

First blush told him that Joey's car had been rear-ended, forced to mount the sidewalk. Whoever was after him had probably followed for some time. There was paint transfer on the back bumper and slight scraping. Tire marks suggested someone had slammed the brakes on hard before pulling away. He spotted the CCTV camera's trained on almost every part of Tropicana. The killer hadn't even tried to hide what they were doing; this was either an amateur or they didn't care if they were known.

"TOD is less than an hour ago" Super Dave declared, standing and moving away from the body.

"Ties in with the witnesses" Brass nodded "I've got an officer collecting the CCTV"

Brass anticipated Nick's next question, as he often did in these situations. He prided himself on his ability to see things from both a police officer's and a CSI's point of view. It was the reason he was so well-respected with the team, it didn't always do him any favours with the police force though.

Nick methodically worked through the vast amount of evidence, finally releasing the street just before the real rush hour hit. Only two bullets had been fired, both penetrating the young man's body. He guessed it had been a quick kill, there didn't seem to be the same meticulous forward planning a usual crime family hit would have. Something had set this off, something bad. As he loaded his truck Brass appeared by his side.

"So, we got it on good authority Malcolm Holloway's our guy. He's holed up in his hotel a couple of block's away, we're gonna go bring him in" He muttered.

"Who's authority?" Nick questioned, wondering how they could be so sure without processing all of the evidence.

Nick had always been taught to follow the evidence. Even when his instincts told him something different it was important to maintain a level head and wait for the evidence to back him up.

"Doesn't matter, He's our guy" Brass insisted and Nick simply nodded, closing his trunk and moving to the drivers side of the vehicle.

"I'll meet you there" He offered as Brass strode away.

The police had already stormed the room when he arrived at the hotel. He could feel an overwhelming sense of foreboding as he walked along the corridor and the sunrise spilled through the windows of the hotel. Brass caught his eye as he stepped out of the room, shaking his head sadly.

"Looks like you're pulling a double Nick..."

Nick frowned and peered into the room. Carnage lay before him, Two young women lay on the bed with gunshot wounds in their naked bodies, their glass eyes begging him for some peace. There was no peace in this death, they had been scared he could feel it from them.

"I better call in some help" He declared with a groan.

Calling on another one of the graveshift associates so close to the end of shift was never a good idea. He scanned his memory banks as he tried to think of who best to call. Sara had been working her own homicide across town and would probably be in the lab chasing her results, exhausted and worn down. Greg and Finn had been out in the desert somewhere at an unknown disturbance. He hadn't heard a thing from them all night but he was sure that meant they were busy, his only options were DB or Morgan and while he respected DB's talents and authority he hardly thought he had the stamina to deal with a scene of this scale at 6am.

Morgan always sounded chirpy on the phone, it would be irritating if he wasn't so focussed on getting his work done. His bed never seemed so far away as when he stood in a scene of such magnitude. He already had a theory, of course. He just had to work it but he needed her help.

He could picture Malcolm here with the girls. He was a notorious drug boss, owning a string of hotels and clubs and running in direct competition with Clinton. He was willing to bet that while Malcolm was here plying these young women with champagne and drugs Joey Clinton had been stewing somewhere. It was possible the girls had been with him earlier, Malcolm was never really adept at etiquette.

He pictured Joey bursting through the doors, the young man keen to make an impression and work the reputation he was expected to live up to. His weapon would already be drawn, his intention would have been to hit Holloway but nerves were probably coursing through his blood stream. The shots that hit the women would have stunned him and in the time it took Joey to steel his nerve Holloway would have already drawn his own weapon.

He counted 6 shots in total. 4 had gone into the girls, one hit the bedframe and the other had been aimed in the opposite direction, penetrating the wall. Nick was willing to bet that the bullet in the wall would match the ones found inside Joey's body.

"Wow, who crashed the party?" Morgan declared, suddenly appearing by his side.

Her wide eyes took in the blood soaked bed, the bottles of champagne tossed on the floor and the pile of discarded cocaine on the table. Clothing lay scattered haphazardly across the room, chips from a casino created a rainbow of colours on the deep dark carpet.

"Reception ID'd Joey Clinton arriving at 2am. They said he looked irate, marched inside and left less than 20 minutes later. Holloway ran out after him with his gun drawn, they were told not to call the police" Brass muttered.

"These girls just partied with the wrong guys" Nick sighed.

There was a vast amount of evidence to work through in the room. Nick knew that if Holloway was alive he was likely to have made his way out of town. He wasn't new to this game and he knew that the LVPD would be hot on his heels.

By lunchtime Nick and Morgan were finally able to leave the hotel and head back to the lab. It never ceased to amaze him how much work the grave shift put in. As he headed through the lab most of the team were still there. Grissom had instilled in them a loyalty and passion for their work that meant they never left the lab until they had exhausted all of their leads and all of their evidence. That kind of work ethic was contagious, even the newest team members would forego their plans and their downtime to see out a case. He had never seen a single member of dayshift work past 11pm on any given day, if their cases ran over they passed them off.

Nick sipped on a coffee as he waited on his evidence. He already had the story running through in his head, all he needed was the evidence to back it up and his suspect in custody but despite a county wide call and a notification to security at McCarron, Holloway was yet to appear on their radar.

"I got something you might be interested in" Brass smirked, tossing a piece of paper in his direction. " I got Holloway's financials... he withdrew a heap of money less than half an hour after Joey was hit."

"He also transferred a heap of money to another account" Nick noted "Who's account?"

"His daughter, Ava" Brass nodded, once again two steps ahead "I got an officer rounding her up as we speak. Let's see if we can make her sing"


	2. Chapter 2

Ava Holloway wasn't what he had expected. Most of the children of crime bosses grew to have a certain look about them. They usually wore designer clothing, too much jewellery and expensive haircuts. They usually had a certain aura around them, almost like the world owed them something even although they didn't deserve a single cent of the money they had.

She was different. Her hair was pulled back into a tight french roll, she wore a smart tailored suit, the red soles of her shoes the only indication she enjoyed any colour other than black and her skin had the naturally healthy glow of someone who spent time outside rather than someone who spent their time in a tanning salon. It was obvious she was a stranger to the police department too although he knew it was unlikely she was naive to her father's chosen career, her deep dark eyes darted around taking in every detail of her surroundings as Officer Mitchel guided her to an interview room and pulled out a chair for her.

Brass quirked an eyebrow at him as he watched her through the glass, glancing uncomfortably around the small room she had been shown to. Nick followed him into the room, both men taking a seat directly opposite the young woman and introducing themselves.

"Miss Holloway, do you know why we brought you in?" Nick began.

"Should I?" She questioned, somewhat defiantly.

He realised that getting some answers from her was not going to be as easy as he had first anticipated. His first impression had been thrown by how she looked when in actual fact she was as evasive as any other daughter of a crime lord. Maybe even more so, from the little information they had on her file he could see that she was an almost fully trained lawyer. Strange to think that she had given up a promising career to work in a strip club.

"Look we know your dad's shady Ava, lets not play any games" Brass threatened.

He seemed to slip into bad cop mode all too easily these days. Years on this side of the table often left police officers feeling jaded and confrontational and Jim Brass was far from immune. He had also dealt with his fair share of disgruntled daughters, his own included.

"I'm not playing anything" She insisted "I don't speak to my father"

Nick slid the financial details across the table, making sure to speak in low, soothing tones to counteract Brass' confrontational method.

"Now we know that's not true Ava, he paid a large sum of money into your account last night" He pointed to the deposit on the page and a further 4 deposit's made previously that he had already highlighted.

"Well he obviously never heard 'Money can't buy me Love'" She smirked, raising an eyebrow at him across the table.

"You expect us to believe he just gives you money?" Brass argued.

Ava leaned forward on the table, holding Brass' irate stare before shrugging her shoulders.

"You'll believe what you want to believe. I'm not hiding anything, you can look at my accounts. He pays me once a month - to stay out of his way"

Nick scanned her expression for sincerity. He actually believed she was telling the truth but it wouldn't be the first time he had been fooled by a pretty face and he intended to make sure he didn't let her away with it if she was lying.

"You're ok with just taking his money?" He questioned.

"We've all got to get by somehow" She stated, turning her dark eyes to him.

"Most people get a job" He countered, feeling somehow argumentative towards her.

"I have a job" Ava muttered, the low tone of her voice speaking volumes of her irritation at the suggestion she was simply a daddy's girl.

"Yeah, but you work for your dad. right?" Brass attacked, pulling this piece of information out of the air unbeknown to Nick.

"Yes I do" She nodded, watching as Brass stood from his chair and began to pace the room.

"So what's to say he pays all his choreographer's so much?" Brass mocked.

"I'm a Physical Therapist" Ava shrugged " and that's none of my concern"

Nick could see Brass' contempt for this woman bubbling under the surface. He knew he had to get this interview back on point or risk Brass and Ava clashing and ending up in a stalemate.

"Ok... so you work for your dad but you never see him? No birthday's, no family meals?" He asked, Brass taking the chair beside him again.

"You assume we like each other" Ava laughed.

"Do you know how he gets all this money, Ava?" Nick pushed, knowing there was no way she couldn't. She leaned forward across the table, holding his eyes with hers.

"I don't care"

"You don't care about the lives he's ruined? The families he's torn apart? the trail of devastation he's left behind him?" Brass attacked.

Ava chose to ignore his question, staring at her fingers as she picked at her nails nervously.

"Do you know if he has any enemies?" Nick pressed.

"Everyone is his enemy" She sighed, rubbing a hand around her neck. She was tired, he could see it in her eyes. Whether it was physically or mentally tired remained to be seen but she was uncomfortable with these questions anyway.

"Did you know he is the only suspect in the murder of 3 people, including Joey Clinton?" Brass yelled.

Shock ignited her eyes and a gasp escaped her lips as she sat back in her chair. She scanned Brass' vicious glare and quickly averted her gaze to the table.

"no... he couldn't have..." She whispered, almost like she was convincing herself rather than them.

Nick reached out his hand, resting it on the table in front of her and making her focus on him once again. Tears glistened in her eyes, it was obvious she had known Joey. They were close in age, it was possible they had secretly been friends or even illegitimate lovers.

"How did you know Joey?" He asked quietly as her eyes locked with his.

"He... we were friends. For a while" She confessed.

"You had a relationship?"

Ava shook her head a smile crossing her lips that revealed more than she cared to.

"I wasn't really Joey's type" She smirked "He kinda batted for the other team"

Nick sat back. This was news to him and could prove probative in this case. Brass agreed, jotting notes in his book with a tiny nod.

"Did your dad know this?" Nick asked cautiously.

"How should I know?" She sighed, exasperated.

"Do you know where we can find your dad so that we can clear this up?" Nick said quietly.

Ava shook her head, strands of hair escaping from the hairband and framing her face "I haven't seen him in 3 months..."

Brass slammed his hands on the cold metal table, making her jump backwards in shock. Nick massaged the bridge of his nose, feeling untold stress at Brass' unexplained anger.

"I'm not buying this estranged daughter crap, you know a lot more than you're telling us!"

As Brass leaned in close to her face the tension was shattered by the sound of her phone springing to life. Everyone paused for a long second, wondering what to do until Brass nodded for her to remove it from her pocket. She placed it on the table, the hard surface amplifying the ringtone and making it echo off the walls. 'Dad' was highlighted on the screen and the three of them exchanged looks.

"Answer it" Brass demanded "put it on speaker and don't try anything clever"

Ava nodded and took a deep breath as she pressed the button.

"Dad..." She began, but the muffled sound of Malcolm Holloway's voice cut her off.

"Ava, sweetheart... something's happened..." He declared.

"I know" She agreed, keeping her eyes fixed on Brass much like a deer trapped in the headlights of a car.

"I had to get out of town - fast" He explained.

Ava pressed her eyes tight together, steeling her nerves and suppressing her emotions.

"What did you do, dad?"

There was a silence on the other end. They held their breath wondering if a confession was on the cards. It wouldn't hold up in court but it would at least confirm they were looking in the right direction.

"it's not important" He finally answered "look, you need to get out of town. Book a flight somewhere, anywhere. Use that card I gave you"

"Am I in danger?" She questioned, a frown creasing her brow.

Nick knew it wasn't the first time her fathers chosen career path had impacted her life. She had been caught in the cross fire many times, it was really no wonder she chose to keep her distance but that would make no difference to the other family. They had lost a son at the hands of her father and they would be looking for revenge.

"Terry Clinton's son is dead..." He stated in a flat tone.

"It's all over the news..." Ava informed him.

"He might be looking for payback..." Malcolm continued. Ava rolled her eyes and bit down on her bottom lip. Nick got the impression that this wasn't news to her. She was an intelligent woman and she knew how these things worked.

"From me? I didn't do anything..."

Malcolm sighed, even through the phone it was clear he cared for his daughter. The fact that she was so detached from him was probably a regret that he had. Possibly one of the only regrets he had. Nick had met Malcolm a handful of times through his work and he didn't get the impression that he was the kind of person to harbour many regrets.

"I know sweetheart, I'm sorry. You're involved by default"

Ava ran a hand over her face as though trying to dispel the stress of the situation.

"Did you kill him?" She demanded, the anger in her tone more than obvious. Malcolm didn't answer and she repeated her question in an even sterner voice. "Did you kill him dad?"

"Ava..." He said in a slow condescending tone "you know me"

Ava fixed her lips in a thin line, her teeth clenched tightly together as she growled her response.

"No I don't"

There was a rustling sound on the other end and a long silence before Malcolm spoke again.

"Ava, sweetheart... I have to go. I love you"

She didn't answer, choosing instead to press the end call button and cover her face with her hands. Nick and Brass exchanged glances as they waited for her to cry but it didn't come, she heaved breaths into her lungs and calmed herself before simply holding their eyes and waiting for instruction on what to do next.

A police officer appeared in the doorway, catching Brass' attention with a stern expression.

"Multiple 4-19's at 7398 Mission Hills Drive" He informed them quietly, stealing a sideways glance at the woman seated in front of them. Brass nodded as the police officer backed out of the room.

"That's my dad's house" Ava declared as the two men exchanged worried glances "what does 4-19 mean?"

Brass gestured for her to follow him out and they all walked hastily along the corridor.

"Who's at home?" He questioned, suddenly worried that this girl had lost more than just her father last night.

"No-one" She stated, Brass' irate stare making her rethink her answer. "Well probably some staff...He has a cleaner, gardener... a pool boy"

Brass turned to face Nick, unholstering his weapon absent-mindedly.

"We need to keep an eye on her" He declared.

If this was turning into a war then she was a prime target. A daughter for a son and while Brass didn't want to scare her, they all knew that she was in great danger right now. Nick nodded his agreement, the scale of the case he had pulled beginning to dawn on him.

"I'll drive her home" He muttered.

"I don't need a ride home. I'm a grown woman, I don't need a babysitter" Ava protested.

Brass turned on his heel and held her eye "You don't have a choice. I'm placing you under protective custody, consider yourself lucky I'm not arresting you"

Nick steered Ava along the corridor with a backwards glance at Brass. Jim shrugged his shoulders and shot him a smile, holding his hands up apologetically as Ava's heels echoed rapidly off the walls as she stalked off. Nick had a feeling she was going to be a challenge.


	3. Chapter 3

Nick pulled his car into the driveway and took in the scene in front of him. Ava's home was on the outskirts of Las Vegas, a new build perched on the edge of the desert in Summerlin. He couldn't help but cast his eyes over the huge building with its double garage and ornate balconies. A well manicured lawn sat proud under the huge front windows and light bathed the quiet street from the Victorian style street lamps. She had been silent the entire journey, staring out of the window, lost in her thoughts. He knew better than to disturb a woman deep in thought but as he killed the engine she turned to face him with a sigh.

"Thanks for the ride" She muttered, stepping out of the vehicle.

"No problem"

He followed quickly, stepping in front of her as she unlocked the front door. He was under strict instructions to keep her safe, and to keep a close watch on her. There was still every possibility that she was as much a part of this whole mess as her father was.

"Where are you going?" She cried, as he drew his weapon and made his way through her living room.

"I'm your new room-mate" Nick smirked as he moved through the space, peering in the rooms he passed quickly.

"You know, I think we should just forget about that. He wasn't being serious" She protested, following him every step of the way.

Her home was filled with luxuries, flat screen TV's in the bedrooms and a kitchen full of appliances. The artwork on the walls looked expensive, the shining marble bathroom most certainly was. She may not have been involved in the crime but she had no problems using the proceeds from it.

"Fraid so. I'm not going anywhere" Nick shrugged.

Ava shook her head, sliding the jacket from her shoulders and hanging it on the hook behind the door. She pulled the hairband from her hair, dark curls escaping down her back.

"Look, I'm sure you're a great guy and all but... I don't do room mates"

"You must have had a room-mate in college" He questioned, keen to distill the negative tension between them if they were to be sharing a space for the next short while.

"Nope"

"I was obviously born on the wrong side of the law" He teased, looking around again.

"Very funny" She smirked, moving into the kitchen area "I like to be by myself"

The kitchen stretched out in an L shape before him, a large central island separated it from the dining area and bright spotlights lit the space. He toyed with a complicated looking smoothie maker, reading the many button's on the bottom.

"Is there really any need for this many functions?"

"That's broken actually" She remarked, removing it from his eye line and placing it in a cupboard under the counter.

"Why don't you just get your dad to buy you a new one" He bit, immediately regretting his sharp tongue.

She burned her eyes into him but refused to bite back, taking ingredients out of the refrigerator as he slipped onto a stool and watched her with some interest. She intrigued him, he wondered how she could justify turning a blind eye to her fathers career choices. He was certain that had he been raised in a crime family he would have broken free in more ways than socially, he couldn't accept tainted money like that. It would always weigh on his conscience.

Her home, while luxurious was void of life. It reminded him of stepping into a show home, everything was perfectly placed but there was no soul, no heart.

"You know you should maybe get a dog or something, maybe you wouldn't be so confrontational" He offered, his eyes still glancing around the space.

"I don't think I'm a dog person. I have a cat but... she doesn't like me" She sighed, looking around for her awol kitty.

"Figured you'd be a cat person" He shrugged.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alex protested, taking offense to his comment.

"Well you know... dog people are friendly, loyal, enthusiastic... like a dog. Cat people...well... they're cat people" He explained.

"You're a dog person, right?" She quipped, rolling her eyes as he nodded in response and she muttered a curt "figures"

Nick cast his mind to his loyal companion Sam, he would be laid out on Mrs Weston's floor by now having been fed to within an inch of his life. His neighbour could always be relied on to step in and care for his dog but she wasn't always known for following instructions when it came to how to care for him.

"I'm proud to be a dog person. All the best people are" He stated confidently. "You would know that if you were a dog person"

She didn't answer, simply choosing to ignore his comments and continue with her preparations but his scrutiny was obviously getting under her skin. Her eyes involuntarily flashed to him every few moments as he watched her moving around. It was clear she wasn't the kind of person who often entertained company.

"You're going to disturb my whole routine you know" She muttered, concentrating on chopping an onion.

"Au Contraire... you carry on. Pretend I'm not here" He smiled, snatching slice of celery and popping it in his mouth.

"You don't exactly blend in" She shrugged, throwing another slice at his head.

"You mean daddy's never bought you a nice man to hang around?" He quipped.

"If he did he certainly wouldn't look like you" Ava declared, turning her back to him and throwing her ingredients into a pot.

"Ouch... that was harsh. I'm hurt, I really am" He feigned offense.

"Can't you just go sleep in your car or something?" She replied flippantly without turning around.

Nick studied her moving around the kitchen, trying to decide if she was serious or not. Nothing in her demeanour suggested she wanted him there. Her every breath was a confrontational one.

"You'd really do that to me?" He questioned with narrowed eyes.

Ava quickly turned, Nick faltering for a second wondering if she had finally had enough of his scrutiny. She leaned on the counter, her face close to his so that he could smell her soft perfume and see the subtle tones in her eyes.

"What do you think?" She asked in a low voice, quirking a slight smile in his direction.

"I think... that you don't have a choice. You're under protective custody. Its this or the police station" He shrugged, nodding towards the irate sounding pot on the stove.

While Ava fought to rescue the food Nick rounded the counter to take the space beside her and peered over her shoulder pretending not to notice the way her body stiffened and her eyes rolled.

"You know... we should get to know each other" He whispered.

"I'd rather not" She replied sharply. "Can't I refuse protective custody? I'm pretty sure I can"

Nick groaned inwardly. He didn't understand why she was so against having him here, especially when his only purpose was to protect her. The most logical conclusion was that she was likely to be involved, or that she knew a lot more than she was willing to divulge to him.

"Yeah you can but aren't you worried? I mean... A daughter for a son - its a straight trade. They're probably coming for you"

Ava paused, as though she was considering this but she didn't answer his question choosing instead to continue throwing ingredients into the pot as though he wasn't even there.

"Look... 24 hours" He sighed "If nothing happens then I'll leave and you never have to see me again. Ok?"

She simply nodded, accepting her fate with reluctance. He glanced around the room looking for something he could use to change the subject, his eyes lighting on an image of a pretty young woman, grained with age.

"Is this your mom?" He questioned, raising the frame into his hands. and studying the woman carefully. There was obvious similarities between her and Ava, They shared the same deep dark eyes and feminine features.

Ava's eyes visibly filled with emotion as she looked at the image. It was the first time he had seen her being anything other than evasive and sarcastic.

"Yes, Its gone 10 years now" She stated sadly.

Nick remembered reading about her death. She had been slain in the centre of a gangland fight, Clinton's men had run her off the road in a botched attempt at faking a car accident. Ecklie's team had been quick to piece together the real story, if he remembered correctly a pregnant Alex had been on the scene. She lost her child a few days later.

"She was beautiful" He declared, stealing a glance at her before quickly turning away.

"Yes, she was. She was a beautiful person too"

"Do you miss her?" He whispered, keen to prolong this rare lull in her iron clad defence system. Ava met his eye then took a deep breath as though suddenly remembering where she was and who she was speaking to.

"I'm not really in the mood for a bonding session Mr Stokes"

She turned back into the kitchen , her wall firmly back in place and Nick found himself standing there with no more tactic's left with which to try and break through her defences. He prided himself on his ability to woo women, not always with the intention of taking them to bed but he considered himself to be charming enough to at least make her talk to him.

"Fine. I was just trying to make conversation" He grumbled, replacing the photograph on the table where he had found it.

"Well I wish you wouldn't" Ava muttered.

"You know.. you've got a lot of hostility Ava"

"It's a gift" She smirked sarcastically.

Nick rolled his eyes. He was beginning to tire of playing good cop to a girl who had no intention of opening up to him.

"You're dad's a different kettle of fish though, Huh?" He stated, unable to keep the anger out of his tone.

"What do you mean?" Ava met his eye with an expression he could only describe as goading. It was almost like she wanted him to force her into an argument.

"Well... he's charming, fun... the life and soul of the party. I guess you missed out on those gene's" He shrugged.

"I'd rather not be like him Thanks" Ava quipped.

"You're a smart girl" He smiled.

Ava was not forthcoming with a return gesture. She simply continued cooking with a curt 'Whatever' in his general direction.

"What are you cooking?" He questioned, taking the space beside her at the stove and inhaling the rich scent of the mixture bubbling happily in the pot. He realised that there was actually no need for her to be standing at the stove for so long and that she had been using it as a method of avoidance from him.

"It's chilli" She stated, keeping her voice flat and ignoring the proximity of his body.

"My favourite" He grinned.

"What makes you think you're getting any?" She challenged immediately, turning slightly to face him.

"You'd let a man starve?"

"Depends on the man" Ava smiled, drawing breath as he leaned across her and took the spoon in his hand. He tasted the steaming hot liquid, letting it burn his tongue and feeling the flavour wash all over him as she watched intently.

"You got any tabasco?" He queried, watching as she frowned and searched the cupboards. His mother had taught him many years ago how to make the perfect Chilli Con Carne. It was his failsafe recipe should he ever have to cook for anyone. She handed him the red bottle with a suspicious glance, watching him as he dripped the liquid into the mixture.

"It's my secret ingredient" He explained "Taste"

He held the spoon out in her direction and she hesitated slightly before his stoic determination paid off and she reluctantly tasted the food.

"That's much better!" She murmured in approval.

"My mom's a great cook" He confessed with a shrug.

"I can see that" She smiled. She was warming to him, slowly but surely he would break through and find out what was really going on. He was suddenly confident that by morning his mind would be made up about what side of the law she was on.

"So, since I saved your meal... do I get to share it?" He questioned, sending her his very best charming smile.

"Fine, but don't think I'm going to enjoy it"

Nick shrugged, taking a seat at the dining table as though declaring his victory. It was small progress but he would take all he could get right now.


	4. Chapter 4

Despite her protests Ava relented and offered him the guest bedroom. It was decorated in soft, feminine colours and smelled of peaches, Nick sat heavily on the bed staring at his hands and feeling incredibly out of place as he listened to her moving around in the next room.

He was finding it hard to deal with her negative attitude towards him. He prided himself on being able to break through even the most resistant people's walls but he had barely been able to chip at hers. It disturbed him more than he would care to admit.

With a sigh he undressed attempting to force himself to feel at home. He couldn't seem to switch off, every noise drew him to the large window convinced that every car was coming for them. Every noise had him on edge as he waited for his suspicions to be confirmed but in the end the sun rose on his unkempt bed before even a murmur of disturbance appeared.

He shuffled into the hallway, failing to shrug off the haze of a restless sleep and in search of a bathroom. He assumed that she would still be sleeping. After all most normal people would avoid 5am as much as humanly possible but as he swung the bathroom door open he was hit by a wall of steam and the soft flowery scent of her soap.

For a few long moments he paused in the doorway, frowning as his brain struggled to keep up with his body. The steam slowly distilled into the hallway and Nick's eyes focussed on the fuzzy image in front of him. Between the steam and the frosted glass her body merely became a blur of pink. He struggled to distinguish the shape of her long legs and the curve of her back under the water and somewhere his conscience was screaming at him to retreat out of the room and pretend he didn't see anything.

"Sorry..." He muttered before backing out of the room, colliding with the door frame in the process.

He cursed under his breath in the hallway, quickly making his way into the living room trying to escape the fallout. She probably wouldn't even have noticed his little indiscretion. He could have left without saying a word and she would be oblivious. But he had to open his mouth.

True to form she came marching out of the bathroom wrapped in only a tiny towel, her hair hanging limply down her back as water glistened on her skin.

"What where you doing in there?!" She attacked.

"I didn't think you would be awake" Nick defended "I just wanted to use the bathroom!"

"And you thought you'd creep a perv while you were there!?"

"It was an accident!" He couldn't help the chuckle from escaping his throat "I'm sorry"

"It's not funny Nick!" She protested, unable to keep the smile from her lips at his embarrassed giggles.

She reached out a hand and playfully slapped his arm before twisting her hair into a messy bun at the back of her head. Nick seemed to be transfixed on how little the towel covered and how every time she moved it shifted its position slightly. The white was in stark contrast to her sun-kissed skin tone as it hugged the curves of her body and she casually paced the room.

"What are you doing up so early anyway?" He probed, drawing breath as he attempted to regain control.

"I'm going for a run" She explained, smiling brightly as she disappeared out of the room.

Nick slowly exhaled, their early morning flirting had caught him off guard considering the tense atmosphere that had persisted between them previously. He shook his head and drew a hand over his face as he moved into his room to get changed. Unsurprisingly, he was dressed long before Ava was. He waited around at the front door, preparing himself for an early morning run.

"What are you doing?" She groaned, joining him in the living room in her workout gear.

"We're going for a run" He smiled.

He had managed to regain his composure and apparently she was back to her sarcastic, evasive self.

"You are really not getting this anti-social theme I'm going for are you?"

Nick shrugged and dutifully followed her outside, casting his eyes carefully over their surroundings as he waited for her to lock the door. Ava took off at a run, obviously intending to lose him on the darkened streets but Nick couldn't be palmed off that easily. He took off after her, taking great amusement at her useless attempts to outrun him.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you were avoiding me" He joked, holding pace beside her.

"I obviously enjoy your company too much" She deadpanned, bearing right into a park and laughing as he stumbled to avoid running into the huge iron gates. In revenge he upped his pace and passed her at a run, jogging backwards in front of her and grinning victoriously.

"I thought so" He grinned, taking joy in her narrowed eyes and unamused expression.

They ran through the vast area enjoying the wind rushing past them and the crisp fresh scent of early morning. Autumn leaves fell from the tree's floating to the ground and crunching underfoot with every step. Nick had returned to her side, keeping pace and glancing across at her every few seconds.

"You run out here every day?" He questioned, an attempt to break through the tense silence.

Ava just nodded, her lips pressed into a fine line and her eyes firmly focussed ahead. Nick had been running with Sara before and she had been the very same. According to her running was her time to put all her thoughts in order and clear her mind but he struggled immensely with the concept of silence on these runs. When he ran his ipod thumped workout music into his ears and encouraged his progress and he had Sam by his side keeping pace.

"You know, you really should get a dog. There's no better running partner" He mused out loud, her only response a narrow eyed stare.

"I prefer Mountain Crest myself..." He commented, picturing the lush green oasis surrounded by desert. This place was much more maintained and staged. The paths were set out specifically for runners, a mixture of pitches and directions according to skill level. He prefered the au naturale environment he found across town but then he never fit in in these so called affluent area's.

"I usually prefer to head out to the lake... but I'm usually on my own and not accompanied by a strange man" She teased.

"I'm not really that strange Ava... you should give me a chance" He shrugged.

"I'll give you a chance to catch up!" Ava stated, pushing off up a steep hill and disappearing over the other side quickly. He shook his head and took off after her. On the other side of the hill the path branched into 4 and he had no idea which one she had chosen. He paused, listening intently for the sound of footsteps or breathing but he heard nothing.

After spending half an hour wandering the park calling her name he decided she had probably gone home. He trudged back to her place feeling a strange mixture of amusement and resentment towards her as he carefully swung open the door.

"So you survived?" She smiled from the dining table, a newspaper spread out before her and a mug of coffee between her hands. "I made you a coffee"

She nodded her head towards another steaming mug perched across the table. Nick fixed his jaw, determined not to allow her the satisfaction of knowing she had scared him with her disappearing act.

"I can't believe you just left me there!" He protested, taking the seat directly in front of her.

"I like my alone time" She shrugged "Besides... I had to get changed and didn't want you creeping up on me again"

Nick drew his eyes across her change of attire. A deep purple dress clung to her curves, a zip snaking the length of her spine and black leggings covering her legs. She swung her leg around, a purple heeled shoe dangling from the tips of her toes as she sipped her coffee.

"It was an accident" He nodded, meeting her eye as she glanced at him over her coffee mug. The silence lingered between them, mingling with the steam of the coffee and the hum of traffic outside.

"So, when will you be leaving?" She suddenly asked, averting her gaze back to the newspaper with a small nervous cough.

"You mean you haven't grown to love me?" He smiled.

Ava chuckled into her coffee before leaning back and regarding him carefully. She had a playful glint in her eye as she exhaled slowly and tilted her head.

"Sorry..." She mumbled unapologetically.

"I said 24 hours" He reminded her.

"Oh come on... you know that if nothing's happened yet then nothing is going to happen" She protested, placing her coffee mug down on the table and leaning on her elbows.

"You really want me to go?" He asked, mirroring her position and meeting her eye. The space between them was minimal, the cut of her dress dipping lower as she sat in this position and he quirked a smile in her direction. Ava faltered for a second, stunned by his unwavering eye contact but she composed herself enough to nod in reaction.

"I really do." She stated with a small smile.

Nick paused, considering the consequences if he should choose to leave now. She was right, of course, if nothing had happened by now it was likely she was safe but he couldn't shift the feeling that settled in his lower stomach when he considered the possibility that she was being watched. On the other hand, he could prove a lot more useful at the lab trying to solve the crimes that led him here than babysitting a girl who wanted nothing to do with him.

"Ok..." He sighed, quickly leaning away from her "but I want you to call me" He insisted, forcing an arched eyebrow from Ava "if you need anything... anything at all"

His expression softened as he handed her his card, their fingers brushing together gently. She sat there, holding the card, staring at the simple words printed there like they were gilded in gold and he watched her, the lingering silence feeling heavy between them.

The moment was suddenly shattered by the thunder of gunshots. The windows cascaded inwards showering them with glass and everything seemed to move painfully slow. Nick's instincts kicked in almost immediately as he threw Ava to the floor and drew his weapon. They crouched behind the breakfast bar, listening to the sound of bullets finding walls and furniture. Nick knew that the next step would be for them to enter the house and that meant that he had to get Ava out of there.

Nick grabbed her hand, pulling her behind him as he ducked across the living room. His eyes were glued to the general direction the bullets had come from as he pressed his back against the door frame. The torrent had stopped which worried Nick a lot more than he would let Ava know, he made a quick scan of the area outside, searching the street for signs of their assailant. He could hear Ava breathing rapidly beside him, her hair unkempt and a bloodied graze crossing her cheek.

He tightened his grip around her hand and they stepped out from the relative safety of the building and moved across the small, well maintained lawn. Nick kept his eyes fixed on his vehicle, their haven and their escape. If he could get them there then everything would be ok.

"We're going to run to my car" He informed her in a breathless whisper.

Ava looked at him, wide eyed and shook her head.

"We won't make it!" She gasped, tears forming in her eyes.

"It's ok... we can do this. Hold onto my hand and don't stop ok?" He instructed "Don't stop for anything"

She nodded uncertainly and Nick confidently pulled her behind him. The world seemed still and quiet and it made him feel incredibly uneasy. They broke into a run, the vehicle was within arms reach and then the sound he had feared filled his ears.

The pain didn't hit him right away, it was Ava shouting that alerted him to his injuries as he fell to the ground and collided with the dirt. He felt a rattling inside his skull as his head battered off the curb. Warmth spread over his body and he felt everything begin to spin. Ava's voice got further and further away despite his attempts to hang onto that connection with reality.

"Nick! Nick you need to help me" She begged as she attempted to drag him into the back seat of the Denali. He opened his eyes drowsily, fixing on hers as they floated above him.

"Please...help me out a little" He heard her sobbing, the smell of her perfume filling his system as she forced every ounce of strength from her body and pulled him into the car. The suddenly deafening sound of silence gripped him as everything fell into darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

He slowly began to regain consciousness. The sound and feeling of a car in movement forced him to open his eyes. Bright light stung at his pupils and pain shot from his chest to the very end of his left arm. He reached for the source, his hand slipping on the warm liquid he already knew was blood. His attempts at pulling himself to a seated position failed terribly as he groaned with the pain and Ava's voice made him focus on the driver.

"You're awake" She cried, obviously relieved "You scared the shit out of me!"

Ava reached behind her to lightly slap his uninjured arm as he slid his body against the back of the seat to a slumped seated position in the middle of the back seat. He studied his body, attempting to assess the severity of his injuries. He couldn't remember the exact order the shots had hit him but he figured the first bullet had hit his shoulder, a graze merely scraping the skin but enough to send him off balance by the time the second one hit his stomach and by the sticky sensation creeping up his back he guessed it was a through and through.

"I've never heard you swear" He smiled, aware that it was a strange thing to be fixating on in that moment. Ava shook her head, turning back to the road and focussing a little too much on her breathing to give him any frowned, looking out of the window for familiar landmarks as they drove before asking in a stilted whisper; "Where are we going?"

"I need to get you to a hospital" She breathed, wincing as the vehicle turned a corner.

"No... we can't go to hospital. Not till its safe" Nick pushed his feet against the foot well and pulled himself into an upright position glancing over Ava with concern. He spotted the deep red staining on her clothing immediately. Her abdomen saturated in blood and her breathing laboured. "You're hurt..."

She turned to frown at him, shrugging in an attempt to minimize her injuries. Her hand lightly brushed the injured area, blood stained her fingertips as she held them up to examine them. With a sigh she wiped the blood on her leg and turned back to him with a small smile.

"Managed to stay conscious though..." She teased.

Nick wondered how severe her injuries were, his eyes focussing on the blood pooling on the chair under her. She looked incredibly pale and drawn but the dark colour of her dress and the position she was sitting in made it almost impossible.

"How did we get away?" He questioned, suddenly aware they were racing through the streets on the other side of town. He had no recollection of leaving her street, let alone making it into the car.

"Guess I'm stronger than I look" She smirked "You might have a little explaining to do at work though"

She sounded apologetic as she gestured towards the shot out windows, obviously forgetting the fact she may very well have saved his life. He pictured the exterior littered in angry looking bullet holes, normally finding a car teeming with evidence like that would be great for him when it came to piecing together the puzzle, this time he would have prefered it if his car had been able to stay in one piece.

"It's ok" He breathed, finding the pain becoming unbearable in this position.

"Pretty sure its a felony to drive through a mailbox too..." She commented, eyeing the rearview mirror nervously as though she was expecting the entire police force to descend on her at any moment.

"I'll have a word with Jim" He groaned.

"We really should go to a hospital" She whispered, clearly very concerned for his wellbeing but Nick was all too aware that the hospital's would be under close scrutiny while they were on the run. He had been to too many crime scene's in and around hospitals to put them at risk.

"We need to go somewhere safe... somewhere out of the way" He sighed, laying back on the backseat.

Ava took a deep breath, her eyes scanning the horizon for answers and inspiration.

"I know a place..." She nodded eventually, pulling onto the highway confidently "Out at the lake"

They drove on in silence for a long time, both pondering their fate separately and attempting to hold it together. Ava's breath trembled and she winced every time they turned a corner leading him to believe that she was hurt worse than she was telling him. He was painfully aware that he was losing blood at a worrying rate, they needed supplies.

"We need to stop somewhere...get bandages and stuff" He stated, stretching out in an attempt to find comfort. Ava nodded, nervously glancing over his wounds. Nick could see nothing but the tips of trees and the occasional pylon as she wound the car through the roads. In a relatively short time she pulled into a gas station, her eyes fixing on the doorway.

Nick cast his eyes over her blood soaked clothing and realised she would be in all kinds of trouble if she strode into the store like that.

"I'll go" He groaned, failing to pull himself up from the chair. Her hand pushed him back gently.

"You need to rest... I'll be fine"

Nick knew she was right. He needed some pressure dressings and pain medication before he could even consider moving so he nodded and lay back down. He talked her through the things they would need and she listened intently, her eyes flickering to the clerk inside every few seconds. Once again he was reminded of her injuries as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"I have spare clothes in the trunk" He muttered, receiving a vacant expression from Ava "Put a shirt on over your clothes and you won't draw any attention to yourself"

Ava nodded slowly and pulled herself out of the vehicle. He watched as she moved around to the trunk and fetched a light blue long sleeved shirt. She pulled it on over her blood stained clothes and fastened the buttons before twisting her hair behind her head. The sleeves hung miles below her hands and she stood in front of the back window rolling them to her elbows before nodding in his direction and heading off towards the store.

She was nervous, it showed in every hesitant step she took but there was nothing he could do at this moment to help her. This was all on her and she needed to pull it off without the clerk realising she was hurt and forcing her to seek medical attention or worse - getting the police involved. For the time being they had to stay under the radar, at least until he'd been able to speak to Brass.

He strained his neck to peer out at her again. She was chatting to the clerk, a basket full of supplies perched on the counter between them. He could see the red of the blood starting to seep through the shirt but luckily the clerk would have to move position to be able to see it.

Ava took a deep breath as she stepped outside and quickly crossed the tarmac towards him. By the time she arrived the shirt was clinging to her stomach, saturated with blood and her hands visibly trembled when she reached for the handle. Inside she pressed her head against the headrest and steadied her laboured breathing, placing the two overfilled bags on the passenger seat.

"You get everything?" He questioned.

Her only response was an exhausted nod as she began rooting in one of the bags. She retrieved a bottle of whiskey, gulping down a mouthful and wincing as it burned her throat. She turned to him with a humorless smile, handing him the bottle.

"It'll help... with the pain" She urged.

Nick nodded and took a long swig. He had long been desensitized to the fire of whiskey and merely handed her back the bottle. Ava struggled to her knee's passing him the various bandages and dressings she had acquired.

"Do you have your phone?" He asked her as he attempted to unbutton his shirt without success.

Ava nodded, pulling it out of her pocket and handing it to him without question. She gently unbuttoned his shirt, avoiding his intensifying gaze. He watched her intently, watched the way her eyes focussed on her task, strands of hair escaped her hair band and his shirt drowned her body making her seem so small and vulnerable.

"We need to get rid of this" He explained when she pulled away leaving his shirt open and his chest exposed. She sat heavily in the front seat taking another swig of whiskey and frowning. Nick shrugged. "GPS"

"Fine" She sighed, turning the key in the ignition following up with yet another swig. She was struggling, it was obvious and he felt helpless as he watched her grip the steering wheel and stare into the distance. She was waiting for the whiskey to kick in, to remove the pain and help her keep going. It was irresponsible considering she was in charge of a vehicle but he was in no position to argue. He understood how she felt.

Eventually she drove off, Nick tossing her cellphone out of the window as they did. He silently and awkwardly wound the bandages around his injuries, pulling them as tight as he could bear. She would glance back at him every few seconds, checking he was still conscious and breathing but no words passed between them. There was no need, they were thinking the same things; They were in a dangerous position, effectively on the run until they were given the all clear and both suffering from serious injuries.

At some point during the journey he felt himself begin to slip into unconsciousness again. He tried to keep his eyes open, tried to focus on Ava as she sat there driving the car but sleep was washing over him like waves on the shore and as he forced his eyes open again he realised that it was having the same effect on Ava. Her eyelids flickered closed slowly and her head nodded forward untill, startled, she pulled herself upright again.

"Ava..." He mumbled "Let me drive"

Ava turned to face him with a slow chuckle.

"You can barely sit up" She pointed out "Besides, we're almost there"

Nick smiled softly, expressing all his thanks in the lingering look they shared before the car jerked violently and lost the road. Everything moved in slow motion. The car rattled and shook on the uneven surfaces, swinging them from one side of the vehicle to the other. Ava turned quickly to grip the wheel and slam on the brakes, saving them from further injury as the truck collided with a tree with a sickening creak of metal. Pain almost overwhelmed him as a strong smell filled the air and a plume of smoke escaped from the now compacted engine.

Ava lay unmoving with her head resting on the steering wheel and a deep red smear snaking down her cheek apparently unable to respond to his cries of her name as dizziness overwhelmed him. He lay back against the backseat and closed his eyes blocking out the chaos building around him and the nausea rising in his stomach, wondering if maybe fate was working overtime to write them off and there was really no way to escape it.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: For Mma63 xx**

Nick screwed his eyes up in an attempt to soften the ringing in his ears but it had no effect. The smell of fuel filled his ears and he realised that they had to get out of the truck before it ignited, he focussed his eyes on Ava in the front seat. Her head was resting on the steering wheel, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed softly to herself. Nick pulled himself up and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We need to go" He explained in a clear, calm voice.

He opened the door with little effort, his arm aching with the physical exertion of moving but he knew he couldn't let that take over. She had been controlled up until this point but right now she needed him to be the leader while she crumbled. She was struggling with her door, her hand slipping and the panic rising in her chest as she searched him out through the window.

"Climb over" He instructed as he pulled the bags of shopping out of the open window.

Ava followed his advice, scrambling over the backseat and attempting to ignore the pain in her side. Her eyes scanned the blood soaked backseat and she looked over him with concern as he helped her exit the vehicle.

"What now?" She asked breathlessly. The blood had now soaked through her clothing and onto his shirt and her eyes were heavy with lethargy, a sheen of sweat covered her skin and she struggled to maintain control of her erratic breathing.

"We need to get to this cabin" He muttered, his eyes taking in the thick woodland and light mist that was beginning to settle in the middle distance

Ava nodded, turning her body back to the road and attempting to scale the slope they had crashed down. Nick offered her his hand and heaved her to the dirt road, waiting for her to point them in a direction. After a moment of squinting in the low sun she stepped off along the road with Nick following close behind.

They travelled in silence, taking a right turn up yet another dirt road that took them further into the woodland. Ava began to stumble more and more, Nick had the benefit of thick supportive bandages and pain medication but she had had neither and the effects of her injuries and exhaustion were beginning to take over. He reached out his arm to support her as her legs gave up once more and she clung to him, her small hand clutching his as a tear snaked down her cheek.

"It's ok, we'll be ok" He reassured her, a feeble nod her only answer as she forced herself to keep walking.

They soon arrived at a cluster of cabin's nestled in the woodland, all apparently empty and deserted. Nick reached for his sidearm nonetheless as Ava led them to the fifth cabin.

It was slightly larger than the others and set back from the makeshift cul-de-sac like it wasn't a part of the woodland community at all and a stand alone cabin.

Ava bent down with a groan to retrieve the key and let them both inside. The temperature had dipped spectacularly as they stepped into the huge space, Ava's heels echoing on the floors as the alarm began to chime. Nick startled but Ava simply wandered over to the box and tapped in a number silencing the offensive beeping in seconds.

"Who did you say owns this place? Your dad?" He questioned glancing around at the expensive furniture and massive marble fireplace.

"I didn't say..." She muttered, her hand clutching at her side and her face distorting in pain. Her knee's buckled and she fell heavily onto the floor, crying out in pain and breathing erratically. Nick ran to her side, scooping her into his arms with a wince as he was reminded of his own injury. He gently laid her down on the massive sofa, arranging the cushion's around her carefully.

"You should have told me it hurt so bad" He muttered.

"I'm ok, really I am" She insisted "We should make a fire"

Nick glanced at the fireplace, void of logs or kindling and sighed. She was right, it was getting cold and when the sun set it would only get colder.

"I'll go get some wood" He nodded, turning to leave.

"There's a store... for wood...out the back door and on the left" She instructed, pointing towards a large well stocked kitchen at the other end of the building. Nick nodded and followed her instructions, returning with a pile of firewood and some dried leaves that he then threw into the grate with a grunt. He had soon raised a small fire that danced around the logs building fervour.

"How'd you know so much about this place?" He asked her as she seemed to retreat into a sense of nostalgia looking around.

"I used to come here a lot" She shrugged, pulling herself upright and to her feet before falling heavily back onto the sofa. Nick took a step towards her but she nodded her head towards a wooden unit beside him "Stereo's in that sideboard"

Nick dutifully switched it on the soft music filling the space as the fire began to crackle and build. He dug inside the bag for the sandwiches she had bought, passing her one with a concerned expression as she stared into the flames and shifted restlessly on the sofa.

"There'll be beers in the fridge" She muttered through gritted teeth "It's always stocked"

Nick wanted to press her for more information on this place but he could tell she was in no condition to be talking too much. Instead he ventured into the kitchen and returned, as promised, with a crate of beers and a bottle of wine.

"I really should take a look at that" He said, passing her a beer and gesturing to the blood on her shirt.

She averted her eyes quickly, necking the beer like it was the elixir of life and discarding the bottle onto the floor. Reaching out her hand for another she met his eye and shook her head.

"It's fine" She stated shakily.

"Ava... you've been shot" He argued, crouching in front of her knee's "You're sweating, trembling, weak... you need to let me help you"

Ava took a deep breath. He knew she was attempting to form an argument, he also knew that she wouldn't find one. She nodded slowly, carefully unfastening the button's on his shirt and revealing the saturated dress underneath.

"I don't see why we couldn't just go to a hospital" She grumbled.

"As soon as Brass lets me know it's safe I promise to take you to hospital" He said, waving his phone in front of her.

"I thought we weren't allowed phones... what about the GPS?"

Nick sat beside her, slowly unzipping the long zip along her spine.

"They're not looking for me. Only the police will find my GPS signal... and that's what we need" He shrugged as a palpable silence descended between them. "as soon as I turn it back on..."

He carefully peeled the dress from her shoulders and away from her torso. Some of the blood was dried in and sticky, she winced as he peeled it away and he apologised quietly before dashing into the kitchen for some warm water.

She had suddenly grown incredibly pale and drawn. He handed her the untouched sandwich again, urging her to eat something and replenish her energy while he carefully dabbed the water to the sticky edges of her dress. When he finally got it free from her skin he gently cleaned the blood from her skin. She had taken one bite of the sandwich before discarding it again, watching him as he concentrated on her wound.

She gasped as he dried the now clean skin and his eyes cast over her. Her stomach was littered with scar's and he was suddenly aware of why she had been so keen to keep covered.

"What happened to you?" He found himself muttering even although his mind was already racing ahead and answering for her. She had suffered terrible injuries in the accident that killed her mother and her baby. He had never read into the exact circumstance's but he could guess that this was the aftermath.

"That'll be how you lose a child" She confirmed sadly. "Nothing like being reminded of it every day"

Nick could only nod. He couldn't offer any condolence's or words of wisdom to soothe her and he wasn't sure that was even what she wanted. He simply continued dabbing her skin with the small towel and finally examined the angry looking bullet hole to the right of her body.

"I thought you said this was nothing?" He cried, shining his pen torch into the wound and frowning slightly. He could see the bullet, lodged in a rib and probably festering already causing her to feel so sick. His best guess was that it was the same bullet that had torn through the lower muscles of his arm hence why it had lodged in the bone instead of shattering it. In a way she had been lucky.

"It is nothing. I'm ok" She protested.

"It's not ok Ava, you have a bullet lodged in your rib. I need to get it out" He declared somewhat aggressively.

He ignored her protests and went into the kitchen in search of tool's he could use. He was surprised to find surgical equipment in a cupboard, including sterile tweezers and iodine. When he returned Alex was seated on the sofa in her underwear with a bottle of tequila in her hand and the dress she had been wearing at her feet along with her discarded shoes.

Nick paused momentarily in the doorway, stunned by the image of her sitting there nervously in the firelight. She seemed hypnotised by the flames, reminiscing perhaps about times gone by or exhausted by their eventful day. The orange flames reflected in her dark eyes as he carefully crouched in front of her and met her eye.

"This is going to hurt" He explained. "You might want to ..."

She took a swig of the tequila and nodded, holding her breath in anticipation. Nick nodded, understanding her motivation as he reached for the bottle and took a swig for himself. Despite the situation Ava smiled at him.

"Performing surgery under the influence Mr Stokes?" She teased, leaning back on the sofa and bracing her feet on the ground with her hands gripping the edge of the sofa "I'm ready"

Nick gulped back his nerves, leaning close to her wound and sliding one hand firmly around her waist. He focussed his attention on the wound, the tweezers poised precariously before her as she sat there with her eyes squeezed shut.

"Try not to move okay?" He stated. She nodded, taking a deep breath and holding it in her chest.

Nick carefully moved the tweezers into her wound, her body tensed and she tried to pull back a little but he held fast, supporting her back with his arm as he closed the tweezers around the bullet as she bit into her lip to suppress the cry bubbling in her throat.

"Almost there" He muttered, twisting the tweezers to pry the bullet free of her rib and pulling the cry from her lips. Her knuckles were white and strained as she gripped the sofa tightly.

In one swift movement he pulled it free and dropped it inside a small plastic freezer bag he found hoping to preserve the evidence. Tears were streaming down her face when he looked up and she shook violently. Nick placed a gentle hand on her shoulder as he retrieved the small bottle of vodka she had purchased in the store and doused the wound in it making her squirm.

"You did great" He reassured as he unwrapped the bandages from the bag. "You ok?"

Ava nodded taking a deep breath and moving until she was seated upright. Nick slid onto the seat beside her, his body seated close behind her as he began winding the bandage around her torso. She watched him, her hair clinging to her face where the tears had moistened her skin. He could feel her eyes burning into him with every movement and found himself stealing glances back at her.

The sounds of soft music filled the room, the glow of the fire surrounded them and as he finished dressing her wound and smiled at her. The expression in her eyes was one he'd never seen from her before but it was one that got under his skin immediately. He found himself hypnotised, drawn to her lips by some invisible force he couldn't fight.

He could taste the tequila and the tears on her lips as he kissed her, the soft raspberry scent of her skin only enticing him further as her hand rested gently on his chest. He reached out, stroking the soft skin on her face as she pulled away slightly. Her breath trembled on her lips as she held his eye contact.

Nick hesitated slightly, a voice somewhere in the back of his head telling him this was a terrible idea. He was aware she was tangled in the web of crime her father had created, he was painfully suspicious that she knew a lot more about this case than she was telling him and he suspected he would live to regret succumbing to his desires but none of those rationalizations could fight the need building inside him as he cast his eyes over her and she licked her lips seductively.

He was lost to her, hopelessly hypnotised by the look in her eyes as she leaned forward and drew her hands across his chest, her fingertips dancing over his muscles softly. From that moment there was no turning back.


	7. Chapter 7

He pulled her close and kissed her passionately, his hands roaming her body as her fingers laced through his hair. She moved into his lap, her knees carefully placed on either side of his body as she pressed against him and unfastened the button's of his shirt exposing his skin and his makeshift bandaging to the warmth of the fire. Her eyes slowly drew over the material before returning to his.

"Does it hurt?" She whispered while her fingers stroked across the material incredibly tentatively.

"Not anymore" He replied in a low voice.

His hands slid the length of her back, settling at the base of her spine and drawing his fingers lightly across her skin. He dipped his head and followed the curve of her collarbone with his lips, feeling the blood pulsing through her veins. Ava moved her hips against him, lightly drawing her nails across his back as he folded her bra strap from her shoulder.

Her fingers grasped at his belt, removing it without any trouble while he unclasped her bra, dropping it unceremoniously on the floor and running his hands over her round breasts. A whisper of a moan left her lips and shivered over the skin of his neck forcing him to react to her without over thinking it. He felt himself straining against his jeans and let out a low sigh as her hands skillfully unfastened his button and freed him of his constraints.

A wicked smile crossed her features as she met his eye again, raising her body enough for him to remove his trousers and slide them across the floor with his feet. He pressed his lips against her stomach, trailing his kisses to the waistband of her panties before helping her to step out of them and pulling her back towards him.

Her lips hungrily met his again, her arms wrapping around his neck as he guided her carefully onto him. His body tensed as he felt waves of pleasure course over him, her body adjusting to him slowly as her arms closed around his neck. He closed his eyes allowing the sensation's to overwhelm him, their skin brushing together, the warmth of her body surrounding him, the brush of her hair on his shoulder, the taste of her lips on his.

She began to move her hips, slowly building a rhythm and arching her back as he supported her when suddenly she stopped, collapsing into his arms breathlessly and clinging tightly to his neck.

"I'm sorry... it hurts too much" She explained, pressing desperate kisses to his lips.

The bandaging across her stomach was instantly in his mind, blood already beginning to taint the white fabric. In one swift movement Nick swung her around so that she was laid back on the soft material of the sofa. Her legs instinctively wrapped around him and he braced himself on his strong arm as he pressed against her.

Her eyes glazed over with desire as he moved over her, her hands moving between grasping his shoulders and gripping the cushion's of the sofa. She began to tremble beneath him, her moans filling the space and her breath shuddering out of her chest as a light sheen of sweat covered her skin.

As he built momentum she began to squirm under him and for a moment he was concerned he was hurting her with his pulsations. He stopped briefly, hovering over her until their breath mingled and her eyes flickered open. She smiled at him, pulling him towards her for a kiss as she tightened her legs around his body and once more he found himself succumbing to her charms, her hips raising to meet his thrusts and her body welcoming him further.

He could feel goosebumps showering his skin as the feeling built fervour, his rhythm matching his desperation. Ava suddenly stopped her movements and clung to his body, her back arched like a cat as she gasped and moaned in ecstasy. Her surrender only hastened his own, he moved with renewed passion over her, his lips devoured her neck. He could feel every touch of her skin, every whispered breath that crossed his skin like waves on the shore and he abandoned all self-control as she pulled him over the edge spectacularly.

Nick collapsed onto the sofa beside her, breathlessly satisfied, the pain in his shoulder suddenly returning. Ava settled in his arms, her head resting on his chest as their fingers laced together. Nick pulled the soft faux fur throw from the back of the sofa and wrapped it around them as they drifted off in each others arms, the heady combination of alcohol, pain medication and sexual exertion claiming them both into its darkness in the warm cocoon they had created.

The chill on his skin woke him. The fire had died to a few burning embers and the blanket had somehow become wound around his leg, leaving the rest of his body exposed. Ava still slept soundly, her eyelids flickering with her dreams and her breathing slow and shallow as she lay in his arms.

He had expected to wake up and feel a sense of regret this morning. His conscience had been ignored in favour of sexual gratification but as he looked over her sleeping beside him he felt a strange sense of contentment.

He would never have considered finding himself in this situation when he first met her. She was definitely not the type of woman he usually went for and they had clashed repeatedly for the short time they had been forced together.

And yet falling into her arms had not been something he had forced.

He gently brushed some hair from her face, waking her from her slumber. Her breath shuddered in her chest when she met his eye, realising she had slept in his arms and Nick wondered if she was suffering the regret he had expected himself to feel.

"Morning" He smiled, attempting to keep his tone light and non-committal. He expected things to be awkward between them, sex always over-complicated relationships. Especially relationship's like theirs that were based on necessity rather than choice.

"Hi" She whispered, her expression softening slightly as she shifted her body further under the warm sheet.

His hand still nestled against her cheek, his thumb stroking across the soft skin as gently as he could manage. He found himself leaning towards her, placing his lips on hers hesitantly. He wasn't sure he was making the right decision by kissing her again. He was free from the excuses and justifications he had told himself last night. There was no alcohol involved, no traumatic experiences and no romantic firelight. It was just them, together, uncomplicated and inexcusable.

"Nick... maybe we should..." Ava muttered, her hand attempting to push him away without too much dedication.

He paused, hovering over her momentarily and scanning her eyes for sincerity. Her eye held his, the moment seeming to gain magnitude with each breath. He kissed her again, this time with more confidence and vigour. Her arms wrapped around him and pulled him close to her body as she returned his kisses with similar passion and abandonment until she stopped abruptly and her hands pressed against his bare chest.

He frowned at her supposed change of heart when they were just warming up but it soon became clear that the previous days activities were catching up with her. She scrambled out from under him but she didn't make it to the bathroom, losing the contents of her stomach into the wastebasket. Her shoulders shook as she hunched over and Nick gently swept her hair back over her shoulders and ran a reassuring hand across her back.

"Didn't think my morning breath was that bad" He teased with a wide smile as she glared back at him.

"Tequila" She mumbled as though that was all the explanation needed and looking thoroughly ashamed of herself.

"Hey, it happens to the best of us" He laughed.

Ava shook her head and regained her composure before heading off in the direction of what he assumed was the bathroom.

Nick watched her retreat with a nostalgic smile as memories of the previous night washed over him. When she was gone he cast his eyes around his surroundings. He was yet to find out her tie to this place, she had been guarded with the information but as he struggled into his boxer shorts he began to take a closer look around.

He strode around the space taking in all the details. It was lavishly decorated, expensive and well constructed furniture took up most of the space. Soft furnishings were minimal, a pool table and bar taking up the entirety of one side of the lounge and the sofa taking up the rest. Nick kept pacing, his mind whirring with possibilities as he constructed a personality profile of the owner like he had been trained to do. The reindeer antlers mounted proudly on the wall, the gun case on display and the huge TV that monopolised one wall. This was a man's place, it certainly wasn't an Ava place.

Ava's home had absorbed more of her personality than she probably realised. The soft, relaxing colours and cushions and blankets everywhere spoke of her need for comfort and serenity. She collected trinkets; little buddha's and ornaments, photographs and memento's. She loved art and flower's, her home smelled delicious from the fresh flowers and scented pillows. This place had none of those things. His eyes had just settled on a photograph by the fire when he heard her returning.

The photograph was of her, albeit one from a number of years ago. She was lying on a patch of grass, her hair flowing around her and a chocolate coated strawberry in her hand. Her wide smile and soft expression told him she was happy, the fact that someone took the time to frame it told him she was loved and not in a father daughter kind of way either. This was an intimate image.

"I... got you a clean shirt" She whispered as her eyes too fell on the image.

"Ava... how do you know this place?"

She paused in the hallway like a deer in the headlights. In her hands she held a full suit on a hanger, the light blue shirt perfectly pressed and lovingly hung. He noticed she had showered and dressed. The clothes she had found miraculously a perfect fit, hugging her curves and accentuating her long legs. She took a deep breath before stepping forward and holding his eyes, nothing but fear reflected in hers.

"Nick... I think there's something I should tell you"


	8. Chapter 8

Nick stepped forward and she visibly flinched, the concern in her eyes turning a knot in his stomach. He took the hanger from her hands, sliding the shirt over his shoulders and adjusting the collar.

"That sounds ominous..." He muttered, pulling the pants on as he watched her moving across the lounge to the sofa and running her fingertips across the throw they had been tangled in not half an hour before.

"Well... I don't think you're going to like it" She sighed, her teeth digging into her bottom lip nervously.

Nick followed her, keeping his eyes trained on her with a frown on his features. He was beginning to feel that sense of regret he thought he had escaped, the burden of guilt settled on his shoulders heavily. He began buttoning his new shirt, noting the Armani label as he did so. She averted her eyes, ducking out of his line of vision as he stood in front of the sofa and sat down slowly.

"Okay... I'm ready" He stated suspiciously.

With a sigh he sat on the edge of the sofa and watched her pace in front of the fireplace.

"You know my mother died?" She began.

A somewhat unnecessary question given they had been talking about it only the day before but Nick felt compelled to answer her awaiting her confession.

"Yes, I remember the case.." He nodded, wondering where the significance was.

Ava sat down on the coffee table before him and leaned her elbows on her knee's.

"She was never supposed to be in the car" She confessed "It was supposed to be Daniel"

She held her breath as though waiting for his reaction but his mind was drawing a blank at first. He ran through everything he could remember from that case, Vegas had been a dangerous place afterwards with gang wars breaking out left right and centre. It sparked the beginning of a long 3 weeks of violence and overtime he'd rather forget but the realisation began to dawn on him that would explain her reluctance to tell him and a lot of other clouded facts from that case that Ecklie had chosen to ignore.

"Daniel? You mean Danny Clinton?" He cried "Why on earth would he have been in the car with you?"

As soon as he uttered the words he knew. The look in her eyes told him of all the regret, embarrassment and sorrow she was suffering. The ashen expression telling him everything about her relationship with the son of her father's arch nemesis.

"This was our place... It was his baby" She muttered, tears brimming in her eyes as though reliving every moment in her mind "I lost our little girl"

Nick sunk to his knee's in front of her and pulled her into his arms, her body crumbling into him. He should probably be mad at her, anger should be coursing through him but something inside him just wanted to protect her and take her away from all of this.

"Is that why he took his own life?" He pressed as he stroked some hair from her face.

She nodded, pulling away from him with her hand lingering on his chest. "Eventually it was..."

Danny had been found in his apartment on the upper east side with a multitude of needles in his arm. At first they had suspected a homicide given the manner of his death but their investigation had shown them he had committed suicide. Not only that but he had planned his own suicide down to every detail. Ava had never came up in that investigation, either no-one knew they had been together or they all knew to keep schtum about the subject.

"Why are you telling me this now?" He asked her, realising that this revelation had little or no impact at this point. At the time it would have cracked both cases wide open but it was irrelevant now and it had no effect on their position.

"My father came to me a few days ago. He had blamed me all along for my mother's death, saying that Danny and I were the reason she was dead. He hated that we were together" Nick nodded, he had had the misfortune of meeting Ava's father a number of times on cases and he could easily imagine the man doing this to his daughter "He said that he heard I was shacking up with Joey"

"and were you?" He asked, pulling away from her to sit on the sofa once more.

"No! I already told you he was gay..." She protested.

Nick was beginning to piece together the story in his mind. He could picture an irate Malcolm storming into her apartment and demanding answers based on the rumours of the lowest of the low, his arms flying and fire in his eyes.

"You said that to your dad didn't you?" Nick stated, suddenly realising the real reason she had chose to tell him this.

"I didn't mean to..." She nodded, tears now escaping slowly past her eyelashes.

"He's gone off and told everyone about the gangster with the gay son. Him running his mouth off has got back to Terry.. and Joey's gone out to get his revenge on your dad" He mused out loud.

"I think so" She sobbed, holding her head in her hands in an attempt to resume control of her emotions.

"Joey had begged me not to tell anyone...he knew it would end like this. I let him down" She whimpered.

Nick could see it all playing out in his head. The anger that wound around every player in this story made him feel physically sick and even more so when he realised just how involved he was in the story now.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?!" He yelled "Before we..."

He trailed off, knowing he didn't have to say the words. He doubted she would ever have told him the truth if they hadn't slept together and he hadn't put himself in this situation. She was the daughter of a crime lord, she knew how to keep secrets. Nick found himself restlessly pacing back and forth on front of the sofa, her desperate eyes following his movements.

"I didn't want to be involved!" She protested. She threw herself from the coffee table towards him, Her hands landing on his chest, her fingers trailing the buttons. "I never wanted to be involved"

Nick took her hands in his and met her hopeful gaze.

"But you are involved Ava. You've always been involved" He muttered, throwing her hands down as he stepped away from her "and now I am too"

He raised his cell phone from his pocket and switched it back on, dialing Brass' number with more resentment showing than he intended.

"No.. I... I won't tell anyone about this. I promise...I'm sorry" She bargained, her hand grasping at his shoulders. He shrugged her off as he heard Brass pick up and stepped away from her.

"It's too late for that"

He stepped outside into the cool, fresh air, ignoring the sound of her sobbing softly. He couldn't let himself feel for her, not now that he knew she had lied to him. In a way he could consider himself lucky he hadn't fallen any further, he had slept with her, he had let her get under his skin and infect his thoughts with the taste of her lips and the smell of her skin but he hadn't opened his heart to her. He hadn't fallen in love and for that he was thankful.

"Nick where the hell are you? They found your blood all over the scene..." Brass answered his cell.

"Jim, we're ok. Can you just send someone to come get us?" Nick got to the point not really wanting to indulge in an explanatory conversation right now. He could tell him everything at LVPD, right now he just wanted to get out of here and away from Ava before he found himself endearing to her any further.

"We got Malcolm Holloway in Custody along with 3 of Terry Clinton's cronies'" Brass declared, recognising his need to keep the conversation professional.

"So we're good to go home?" He muttered. A strange feeling of disappointment creeping over him. He may be hurt by her lies and he may know that being around her was a bad idea but he had enjoyed their time together a lot more than he had expected and he was not looking forward to breaking the news of her father's arrest.

"I got a unit on the way" Brass confirmed, ending the call.

Nick wandered inside, she had raised a fire in the time he was gone and was curled up in a massive lounge chair by the full length windows on the other side of the room. She gazed out at their surroundings with a mug of coffee cooling off between her hands.

"I made you a coffee" She muttered without looking up.

The lethargy and sadness was more than obvious in her voice, her eyes remained fixed on the trees outside as though she was searching for some kind of great truth in nature. His eyes fixed on the large steaming mug placed carefully on the kitchen counter waiting for him and he felt a tiny sense of guilt at shunning her before.

"Thanks"

He approached her with the mug in his hands an awkward silence filling the air like a bad smell. Ava didn't look up when he took the seat across from her, he sunk into the overfilled cushions and exhaled slowly.

"Your dad's in custody" He stated finally, carefully watching her face for her reaction.

Surprisingly she didn't react. Her eyes were still fixed on the window as though she hadn't heard him or she had completely internalized the whole thing. He was worried about her, she was holding onto too much and although she was probably justified in distancing herself from him that didn't make it any easier.

"Brass is sending someone to get us" He continued, her silence feeling like it had assumed a huge magnitude.

She wasn't ignoring him. Far from it, she was actually speaking volumes with the subtle changes in her expression and her posture but he would have preferred a little bit of interaction.

"And while we were up here aliens descended and took over Vegas"

She finally met his eye, a sarcastic smile crossing her lips as she sipped her coffee. He felt his heart making somersaults, reacting to her eye contact despite his head warning him to keep his distance.

"What happens now?" She asked quietly.

Nick reached out and took her hand, a gasp escaping her lips as though his touch burned her skin and her eyes rapidly seeking out his before she nervously retracted it.

"We need to get checked out at a hospital, give our statements..."

"Will I be in trouble?" She whispered.

Nick held her eye, wondering what exactly would happen when they went back to the city. Technically, she had withheld information that could have been probative to both this case and her mothers, not to mention Daniel's, but there was every chance she could claim fear or manipulation as a factor for not coming forward. There was no telling whether a judge would pursue her on this or not until she had firmly placed all her cards on the table.

He internally debated whether telling her the truth or attempting to protect her from it was the best path but the sound of vehicles and animals scurrying for cover at their disruption interrupted them.

Nick ran to the window, sliding back the curtain with his firearm in his hand. Even though Brass had told them the prime suspects were in custody he still held a niggling doubt in his mind. That doubt was apparently justified as a black car with tinted windows screeched to a halt at the end of the dirt road. Two men dressed head to toe in black marched out, slamming their doors and walking swiftly towards the building.

Ava appeared at his elbow, her hand resting gently on his arm as she peered outside. He paused slightly, finding himself being captured by her proximity.

"You know those guys?" He asked, as the men kicked open the doors of each building to see if they were empty.

Ava nodded slowly, her eyes filled with concern "They work for Terry... we need to get out of here"


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N: I apologise for the massive delay in posting this. My laptop died shortly before New Years and has just been returned to me. Luckily all the files survived but I made a decision to change the way this story was originally supposed to go and therefore this chapter had to be re-written. I hope you enjoy and I'll try and get the next update done soon. Leave me a review pls. and a BELATED HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all. May it be filled with love, happiness and blessings xxx**_

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Nick led them out of the back door, his hand firmly wrapped around hers. The ground followed a steep incline out there, leaves and pine needles making for a soft and slippery pathway. He didn't know where he was going or who he was running from but his survival instinct was raging as he pulled her behind him and ventured deeper into the woodland.

Ava followed without question, trusting his ability to keep her safe despite the dire situation they found themselves in. There was a clatter inside the house and simultaneously Ava slipped on the undergrowth. He held fast to her hand, hoping that Brass' team would show up before the men caught their trail. In this kind of terrain he knew they didn't stand a chance with injuries. It would have been hard enough running through the thick woodland when in full health.

Nick leaned down to help her up, his eyes casting over the community of cabins now well below them. A convoy of 4 cars pulled into the clearing, a cloud of dust kicked up by their tires as they screeched to a halt beside the other vehicle. Ava's eyes sought out his, looking for reassurance or instruction but he realised he didn't know what to do.

Salvation was just out of reach, he could see it, he could hear it, he could almost feel the cold leather of the seats in the cars as they drove them back to civilisation and away from here but there were two angry looking men standing between them. Two men who were likely to be highly trained in taking down a hit and had nothing where their conscience should have been. Two men who now appeared at the back door with their weapons drawn and locked eyes with Ava.

Time slowed down spectacularly. He could suddenly sense every tiny movement in the tree's, he could hear the river rushing to their right, he could hear the police officers clearing the house and he waited for the sound of gunfire. He waited for a bullet to whizz through the air destined for them but nothing happened. The men both looked at Ava , unmoving like statues as they stood at the back door and she looked back, standing upright and defiant before she simply turned on her heel and broke into a run towards the trees and away from everything unfolding below them.

for a second Nick stood, glancing at the men with a frown as they growled back at him. He didn't understand their lack of gunfire or their sudden willingness to let them go but in that moment he felt an overwhelming need to follow Ava. He turned quickly, the sound of gunshots and shouting creating a symphony for their escape and Nick realised he wasn't exactly sure what he was running from anymore.

He caught up to her a few moments later, the anger and confusion instantly melting away as he saw her clutching her abdomen and attempting to heave breath into her lungs. Still she kept running, pausing only for a moment to lace her fingers through his as they tore through the undergrowth headed for the unknown. He knew he should be encouraging her to turn back, he knew the police force were more than capable of handling two wannabe gangsters and they could simply stroll back into the house and get a one way ticket to the nearest emergency room but something inside him told him to stick with her, even when her decisions were questionable.

Eventually they came to a tarmaced road. It wasn't one he recognised but it was a reassuring sight nonetheless. Ava had slowed her pace to a heavy walk and he fell into step beside her, listening to the sounds of the birds dancing in the trees and their footsteps. Those were the only sounds, they had left behind the intense never ending throng of the city and they were well and truly lost.

"Do you know where we are going?" He asked her quietly.

It was an unnecesary question of course. He knew she had about as much idea as he did and the clarification did absolutely nothing to calm his nerves as they grew increasingly thin.

"We could just turn back, those guys will probably be in custody by now..." He rationalised. This was the same mantra he had repeated in his head over and over again since making the decision to follow her instead. He wished that he would listen to his head for once instead of following his heart. It didnt have a great track record for taking him to the good ones.

"There will only be more later...they're still after my dad" She muttered "They won't stop til the jobs done. Trust me"

"But your dad is in custody Ava, they can't get to him..." Nick argued as they walked along the seemingly endless stretch of road.

"Why do you think they didn't shoot us Nick? Did you really think they had suddenly developed empathy?" She shrugged her shoulders and upped her pace, shaking her head at his apparent naivety.

It struck him that the idea had never occured to him. He had merely assumed they had taken a change of heart or were distracted by the police force charging through the doors. If what she said was true then everyone at PD was in danger. If the police made the mistake of marching the men through the building at the same time as Malcolm they would sieze their opportunity. Jail time held no great terror for these people, it was almost a badge of honor to serve time for such a crime in the circles they travelled in.

"so what now? we just keep walking?...to where Ava? there's nothing out here!" His eyes desperately sought out a building or a road sign and found nothing but trees and thick undergrowth with no sign of life forthcoming.

"I am not going back Nick, you do what you like!"

With that Ava marched away from him, turning round a bend in the road and out of sight. Nick didn't really know what to do in that moment, he had been offered a free pass. He could leave her behind and call Brass from the first phone he found but his protective nature told him he couldnt turn his back on her out here by herself. Not now, not after everything they had been through.

Nick broke into a jog and caught up to her, a sideways glance the only acknowledgement she granted him as he appeared at her side again. They walked in silence, the road soon stretching out behind them for miles. His feet were aching, his shoulder throbbed and exhaustion seemed to settle into his bones as they reached the crest of yet another hill.

And there it lay below them. Salvation in its purest form, a motel set back from the road with a rickety swinging sign and shutters on its windows. At first glance it looked abandoned and in Nick's need to rest he only hoped they had left the beds but on closer inspection they realised it was merely rundown and uncared for. The light was beginning to fade and a flickering flourescent light filled the space in the tiny reception.

Ava glanced at him as they approached the doorway, an elderly woman taking charge behind the desk. She eyed them suspiciously as Nick was suddenly made aware of how disheveled they looked.

He paused slightly to straighten out his jacket and pluck a stray spray of pine needles from her hair before taking a deep breath and swinging his arm around her shoulders.

"What are you doing?" She hissed, her hand automatically reaching for his in an attempt to remove his arm. Nick grabbed hold of her hand and plastered on a fake smile as the bell above the door announced their arrival in its usual tinny fashion.

"Follow my lead" He whispered, leading them both towards the desk and lacing his fingers through hers.

The woman on reception looked them up and down slowly before returning her attention to the crackly image on the rickety old TV.

"We're looking for a room...?" Ava muttered, her voice high-pitched and confused.

"Well I hardly thought you were looking for a Mercedes" The woman bit back. Her eyes cast over them again and shifted to outside "How'd you guys get out here without a car?"

Nick cursed her powers of observation. He had hoped they could slip inside unnoticed with no questions asked.

"We went off the road a couple of hundred yards back.. can't get a tow truck till tomorrow" He shrugged "We're on our honeymoon, thought we'd make the most of it... you know?"

Nick pressed a kiss to Ava's forehead, hoping the woman wouldn't notice the distinct lack of ring on either of their fingers or the way Ava stiffened uncomfortably by the action.

"How sweet. Credit Card or drivers licence up front as a deposit, we don't do room service and our maid quit" The woman grinned a sarcastic grin and turned to the keys lined up behind her on shiny brass hooks "I'll give you the honeymoon suite"

She dropped a key into his outstretched hand with another sarcastic smile the number 127 barely noticable on the worn key chain. He wondered how many other wayward travellers had passed through here and exactly how it had gone into such disarray. It had probably been a reasonably nice Motel in its day but there was no mistaking the odour of abandonment and disappointment that mingled with the sin in this place. He knew they were no different to most of the other people who passed through the reception these days, people searching for invisibility and somewhere to commit their most deceptive acts.

"You have a honeymoon suite?" Ava questioned, the surprise was evident in her voice and she drew her eyes around the building searching for the location of the elusive suite when the receptionist simply deadpanned 'no'.

Nick signed the guest book 'Mr Smith' despite the discrepancies on his card but the woman merely grunted her distaste and nodded them away. She was clearly familiar with the procedure when booking into a Motel and hoping to stay incognito.

They reached their room and Nick twisted the key in the dusty lock. A massive bed stood in the middle of the room covered in a mustard throw and a mountain of cushions. The huge pine headboard stretched the length of the room with two tiny bedside cabinets perched on either side of the bed. Ava fumbled for the light switch bathing the room in a yellow artificial light which, if anything, only made the room look more depressing.

A tiny TV stood on a dresser and Nick moved to attempt to find a channel while Ava headed for the bathroom. Her hand lazily stroked across his shoulders as she walked past and he felt a shiver work up his spine as his eyes followed her retreating figure as it crossed the room.

He eventually found some form of connection to the news, it wasn't much but it was better than sitting in silence with Ava. He was struggling to control his libido already and she had spent most of their time in the bathroom. The realisation struck him suddenly that something could be wrong. He hadn't heard a sound from her in a long time.

"Ava... is everything ok in there?" He called into the small room.

He crept across the room with his weapon drawn, every tiny hair on his body standing to attention as the air seemed to bristle with tension. With one hand he slid the bathroom door open and came face to face with Ava.

He jumped, startled by her proximity and the clarity in her eyes. He lowered his weapon and let out a sigh of relief as he allowed his eyes to cross her body slowly, devouring the scene in front of him. She had removed her dress and had clearly been making an attempt at tightening her bandages. This told him that she was uncomfortable and the extra support and stability the bandages offered would help her.

"I can't get this to stay" She explained, her fingers clutching at a stray end of bandages.

With a soft smile Nick holstered his gun and took the material from her. He pulled it tight and tucked it into the belt of bandaging his spare hand grazing the bare skin of her shoulder as lightly as a feather.

Ava shivered, turning slightly to meet his eye in a suspended moment of unspoken understanding. Suddenly, Nick was all over her. His hands rushed to explore every part of her soft skin, his knee raised between her legs and his lips danced over hers like she was to be his last meal. Her back collided with the glass door of the shower and he pressed against her as she would her arms around his back and held fast to his body.

Nick hoisted her up to waist level and her legs instantly wrapped around him, her hair surrounded him and the rest of the world was completely forgotten in their den of sin. Her nails dug into the taut flesh of his shoulders as he worked the straps from her bra away. Soon she was exposed to his eyes and his lips followed an invisible trail from her neck to her breasts, gratefully receiving the growl forming in her throat in response.

With one swift movement he had transported them both to the bed, she lay back and surveyed him as he removed his shirt and pants. A tiny smirk crossing her lips in what he could only hope was satisfaction. He kneeled on the end of the bed and began slowly creeping his fingertips up the inside of her leg. By the time he reached the top of her thighs she was trembling in anticipation of his feather like touch.

He pressed his lips against her abdomen, following the natural shape of her body to the crest of her panties. With a wicked smile in her direction his fingers simply tore them away and he began to tease the moan from her lips. His fingers gently brushed across her with such pinpoint precision she could barely contain herself and when his lips and tongue followed suit her hands couldn't grip the sheets tight enough to suppress the cry of sheer ecstasy that found its way into the room when the knot in her lower stomach exploded spectacularly.

After that she was ravenous. She clamoured on top of him and tossed him back on the bed, making use of her nails and the delicious softness of her lips. She teased him, darting her tongue out and across his painfully swollen extremities but in all honesty he enjoyed the build up almost as much as the act itself.

It took all his control to hold himself back long enough to feel her muscles adjust to his body inside her. He opened his eyes to see her body waiting for him as she moved on top of him, her eyes sparkling with lust and excitement and a thin gleam of sweat dancing across her skin. He pulled himself to a seated position, wrapping his arms around her body and pulling her as close as he possibly could. Her breathing was erratic and he could feel her heart thumping in her chest as he clung to her and manipulated her movements.

Ava met his eye more than once, there was uncertainty and nervousness in hers that he couldn't understand but there was also something deeper that he didn't want to acknowledge. There was something frightening about the honesty in a persons eyes at that moment of closeness, something so vulnerable and yet incredibly powerful at the same time.

She tossed her head back and arched her spine as his movements sped up and became more anxious. All at once he found himself unable to hold himself back or keep the steady pace he had told himself he could. He needed her, all of her, and he needed it now.

He threw her back on the soft bed and moved his body over her. He overshadowed her entire being as he propped himself up on his arms and pushed into her again. This time he didn't hold back or consider the romance of the situation, this time he pushed into her with such desperation and passion that she found herself matching his movements and rocking her hips against him as her nails dug into his back. His lips hungrily devoured her neck and she cried out over and over again as though with each thrust she forgot about the last one. Then it was all over in a trembling, overwhelming , crescendo of lust.

Nick collapsed onto the bed beside her, his breathing taking its time to return to a normal pattern. Ava settled under his arm, her heart beating hard against her chest and her skin moist from exertion. He lazily drew his fingers along her spine as she traced patterns on his chest. They wrapped the mustard blanket around them and felt the soothing warmth of their bodies fill their cocoon, before long she slept and he followed suit, exactly as they were; naked and tangled in each others embrace.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you for all your lovely reviews of the last chapter. Just a heads up that my laptop is not fully repaired yet and will probably be going back into the shop. I'm going to try and rescue my files first though so I can keep up with posting. This chapter was originally supposed to be the end and then a Brass POV chapter and then it became this. I hope it works ok, Brass chapter comes next and I believe it will work better that way for the flow of the story. Please let me know how you think its going I love to hear your feedback... Oh and Also - Happy Burns Day - We've had a tartan kind of day here celebrating our bard's birthday and singing Scottish songs. :) Much Love, Charli xx**

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Nick woke to an empty bed and the gentle sound of birdsong drifting in through the open window. Ava was nowhere to be seen and for a moment he mourned her absence, wishing he could have woke to the smell of her hair and her warm body beside him. He considered the possibility she had ran. She seemed to spend all her time running from something and the thought genuinely upset him. At least until she appeared at the door with two paper cups and a bright smile.

"Good morning" She declared, closing the door with her foot and handing him one of the cups.

"I thought you'd left" He explained, perching on the edge of the bed and wrapping the blanket around his waist.

"I needed some air... There's a town about a mile down the road with some shops and things" She shrugged "Thought we could walk in and pick up some supplies"

Ava leaned back against the TV cabinet, the coffee cooling in her hands. She looked relaxed and content, it struck him as odd considering what had occurred over the past few days but she met his eye and a soft smile involuntarily crossed his lips.

"Look, maybe we should find a phone and got someone to pick us up?" Nick offered.

He was beginning to realise that their habit of taking off into the night without telling anyone was probably causing his colleagues more that their fair share of stress. While they were holed up in their own sanctuary enjoying each other's company he was sure that his team were furiously pouring over every inch of that cabin and painstakingly collecting all the evidence to track them down.

Ava shook her head "It's not safe yet. I can't go back..."

She placed the cup on the cabinet beside her and approached him slowly. With a smile she draped her arms over his shoulders and crouched down between his legs.

"We could always just... stay here" She purred, grazing her nails across the back of his neck and meeting his lips sensually.

Slowly she pushed against him and he leaned back against the bed as she crawled over him. Her delicate kisses crossed the bare skin of his chest like raindrops and a sigh escaped his lips. She was using her body to manipulate him, it was painfully obvious and he almost fell for it too, his body responding to her touch was something he couldn't control but his head over-ruled his libido for once and he gently pushed her away.

"Ava... we need to go back. You know we do, we'll be fine. I promise" He did his best to soothe her, brushing her hair away from her face and placing a kiss on her forehead.

"We won't be fine, you don't know what these people are capable of" She protested.

Ava swung her body off his and sat heavily on the bed beside him. He ran his fingertips across the length of her arm but it was clear that fear had monopolised her thought process and she stared into the middle distance as she bit down on her bottom lip.

Gently, Nick coaxed her down beside him and she settled in the crook of his arm. Her hand rested on his chest and he absent-mindedly laced his fingers through hers and held her close.

"I do know" He whispered "But I can protect you, I promise. I spend my days working out exactly how these people work. You'll be safe with me, you can even stay at my place...for a while"

She seemed to ponder this for a few long moments and an awkward silence settled around them like a net. It was almost suffocating to lie there waiting impatiently for her to speak but not wanting to push her into a decision.

"Lets..." She finally broke the silence but the uncertainty was clear in her quiet voice "Leave it one more night? Please?"

A part of him wanted to argue. He knew logically that one more night wouldn't really do too much damage but his conscience told him that he had to let Brass know they were ok. For all he knew there was already a team in place combing the woodland for bodies at the crack of dawn. He owed it to his work mates and his friends to get in touch. Nevertheless he nodded and placed a kiss against her lips in agreement. The could stay another night but he hadn't agreed to stay invisible and as soon as they found a phone in town he would be calling Brass.

Of course she silenced his doubts quite easily and it was mid-afternoon by the time he ventured outside. She had gone in the shower and he made the decision to settle their bill with his credit card. There was a slim chance Brass was keeping tabs on it's activity and he would be able to track them down through the charge.

He wandered into reception and met the steely glare of the receptionist. He had forgotten just how confrontational she seemed but he pasted on his best smile and approached the desk anyway.

"Hi there, I just want to pay for our stay? We'll be on our way tomorrow" He tapped his card distractedly on the counter and waited for her to tell him the damage but she merely took another long drag of her cigarette and looked at him steadily.

"Your lady friend already paid" She declared, stubbing out the cigarette "made me take your licence off the system too... She was very persistent"

Nick was momentarily taken aback by her statement. He had no idea Ava had cash on her and he saw no reason why she would be so keen to hide his identity.

"Did she say anything else?" Nick questioned with a frown furrowing his brow.

The receptionist shook her head, strands of grey wiry hair escaping her hairband as she did so.

"Just used the phone and left" She shrugged.

Nick turned his attention to the payphone hanging on the wall. The CSI in him made him want to check who she called, for how long and exactly where they were but he knew he didn't really have the means or the motive to check those things at the moment. He could either ask her about it or decide to trust her. At this point he wasn't really sure which one was best.

As he approached their room she appeared on shaky legs and squinting in the sunlight. She smiled brightly at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing a kiss to his cheek as she did so. His doubts were gone in an instant, immediately lost in the deepness of her eyes. Ava held tightly onto his hand and they made their way slowly down the long road to the town.

It seemed to materialise out of nowhere. A bend in the road and all of a sudden you were hit by civilisation. A church spire scraped the clouds, standing proud in the centre of town and surrounded by homes. A small row of shops followed the curve of the road and people bustled back and forth ignoring their presence.

They came across a small café nestled on a corner away from the other shops and carefully crept through the door expecting a frosty reception from the locals.

In actual fact they were ignored by everyone except the waitress, invisible in a town used to strangers. The young woman led them to a booth in the corner and took their drinks order with a bright smile before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Nick glanced around the collected characters in the diner. It was a very typical gathering of people, regulars and townspeople who all knew each other on a first name basis and chatted in a friendly open manner. While they didn't go out of their way to make them feel like outsiders it was blatantly obvious they didn't belong here.

His eyes eventually returned to Ava as she studied the menu intently. She looked so much prettier like this, so natural and at ease. Her hair beginning to twist into curls in the crisp air as she tucked it behind her ears and tapped her nails lightly on the plastic tabletop.

"Quit staring..." She smiled, without looking up.

She drew her teeth slowly over her lower lip and met his eye over the top of her menu. It was the look that could draw a shiver up hs spine and leave him breathless all at once and he was certain that she knew it.

"I was not staring...I was observing. It's what I do" He muttered, reaching his hand out to place it over hers and stop her incessant tapping.

"And what exactly did you observe Mr Stokes?" Ava teased, a wicked grin turning the corners of her lips.

"I observed a young woman with a very annoying nervous tapping addiction" He smiled.

"Sorry, it's a bad habit I know!" She apologised and turned her eyes to the tabletop "My dad always hated it. He'd make me sit away from the table in meetings so I couldn't do it!"

Nick laughed along with her for a moment until a tiny doubt sparked in his mind and brought a frown to his face.

"I thought you had nothing to do with your dad's business?" Nick asked, retracting his hand and analyzing her face for the tiniest trace of lies.

Her eyes immediately shot to his and he noted how scared she suddenly looked. She had swore to him that she had nothing more to do with her father than genetics and yet this slip up told him there was much more than an estranged father/daughter relationship going on between them.

"I... I mean before...when I did speak to him..." She stumbled "I didn't always hate him. He is my dad..."

Nick genuinely wasn't sure whether he should believe her this time or not.

"Are you going to visit him when we go back?" Nick questioned, unsure what he wanted her to say. On one hand it would make sense for her to want to see him. He was her father and she loved him but he wondered if the act of visiting him was a bit of a contradiction of her story.

"No, I don't think I should. I have more important things to be focussing on" She smirked, running a nail lightly along his arm.

"When we get back...you'll still want to...see each other?" He seemed to say it with more surprise in his voice than he had really intended. He wasn't even sure it's what he wanted, they could turn out to be different people back in Vegas. He was sure that Ava had more than one side to her personality anyway, it was only a matter of time before she slipped up.

"I think we could give it a go. We've got nothing to hide anymore...right?"

He nodded and smiled, attempting to tell his mind to stop assuming the worst but the seed of doubt had been planted and there really was no way to reverse the effects of that. he found himself looking at her with a lot more scrutiny than he probably should have been as she ordered her meal.

She smiled sweetly at the waitress as she ordered, slipping easily into the persona of a tourist. She was a good actress, something he was surprised he hadn't noticed before. Even when she had been shot and losing blood she had managed to hold an easy conversation with the garage teller, one that was convincing enough for him to not to call the cops.

"I think I'll call Brass while we're here" He muttered, carefully watching her reaction. "just to let him know we're OK"

Ava paused, her lips closed around the straw of her banana smoothie and her eyes sought out his. She slowly sat back, her eyes not leaving his and her lips softly closing together.

"Do what you have to do" She shrugged.

He was surprised by her reaction. It was certainly not one he had expected and he wasn't sure how he should respond to it. Had she caused a scene or asked him to wait longer then he would have been able to definitively say he was suspicious of her actions. He wondered if it was possible all this time on the run was making his mind go to places it didn't need to.

"You're not going to freak out?" He asked, a playful smile crossing his features.

Ava reached out and laced her fingers through his, her expression softening and a smile curling her lips.

"I promise not to freak out, I trust you"

Her words resounded in his mind, silencing the doubts he had felt and replacing it with guilt. She was willing to put her life in his hands and he was internally questioning her motives every step of the way. She was a beautiful woman and they connected in a way he had never experienced before. The passion between them was certainly fiery and exciting but aside from that they had proved that they were intellectually well matched too and she could keep him on his toes when they went for a run. He should be thankful that through all this drama he had been able to find something so special.

Without thinking he leaned over the table and gently danced his lips over hers. His hand stroked her cheek and her grip on his other hand tightened, he realised it was their first kiss out with the confines of their cocoon. The first time they had acknowledged what they were building in public and the first time he really thought about exactly what that could mean.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry, it took me forever to get this to the stage where I was happy with it. Hope you enjoy xx**

Brass cast his eyes around the now empty cabin and let out a deep breath.

He could count on one hand the number of times he had had the privilege of Miss Holloway's company and yet he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she couldn't be trusted. He had been in this job long enough to know to trust his instincts and when it came to Ava his instincts told him she was bad news.

He had despaired of his decision to allow Nick to supervise her when he turned up at her house following the shooting. A part of him had been reassured by the way they seemed to clash. Ava simply didn't entertain the charming Texan and Brass had hoped that Nick would have the sense to keep her at arms length.

The remnants of her home suggested he had been able to do that.

The spare bed was disturbed, short dark hairs were on the pillow that eventually came back to Nick and the main bedroom held proof that Ava had slept there. The CSI's were highly skilled in piecing together an image of what happened at a scene but for some reason this one had evaded them.

The blood pooled outside on the grass came back to Nick and the gun retrieved only a hundred feet away. Tire marks had led them to tracking down the CCTV and following the department issue Denali as it swerved through traffic.

The fact that Nick was injured was bad enough but Brass felt a knot in his stomach to think he was out there with her. His mind whirred at a million miles a minute as he thought through all the possibilities. It was possible she had orchestrated the whole hit in a bid to keep him as a hostage and use him to negotiate her father's release but as time wore on he realised that if that were the case then he would have had contact.

The CCTV lost track of the vehicle somewhere off the highway and the trail ran cold at a petrol station in the woods. The surrounding woodland was far too vast for him to set up a search party with no real proof they had been there but some grainy images on an ancient camera and a semi-intoxicated teller who may or may not have seen a man soaked in blood arrive with a woman in a black truck.

He was beginning to get irate and irritable, The silver decanter of brandy in his top drawer saw the light of day far too many times and he found himself staring at the kind inscription from Gil Grissom wishing he had his old friend to talk this through with. The phone call had come just at the right time, Nick had been gone more than 24hours and logic told him hope was fading for his safe return. Hearing his voice across the cellphone line lit the passion in his soul once more and he high tailed it down to PD to collect a posse.

Now he stood in the middle of a vast living area and realised he had been wrong about the whole sorry situation. The CSI's found signs of sexual activity on the sofa and surrounding area, both the mens and the women's wardrobe had been disturbed and empty liquor bottles were scattered around the area like a testament to the evening before.

Sara held up a blood soaked purple dress, a bullet hole clearly visible in the middle of the fabric. Bandages and scissors lay on the nearby table, a pair of blood stained tweezers lying with them with a bullet in a clear plastic bag.

"She's hurt too" Sara observed.

"If they're both is such bad shape then where are they? And what the hell are they doing having sex?" Brass groaned.

"Lets not jump to conclusions, it might not come back to them when we run it through DNA" Sara soothed, aware that Brass was feeling both guilty and worried for his younger friend.

She knew how foolish Nick could be when it came to women. It was something they had clashed over many times despite their mutual respect. He had an eye for the ladies and more often than not it got him into trouble.

"You know if it does then he's in trouble. She is still a viable suspect" Brass pointed out.

She wondered if Nick had thought about that when he had fallen for her charms. There was a high possibility that she was aware of what she was doing and by sleeping with him she earned herself a one way ticket to acquittal. Sara was there to make sure that didn't happen though, whether Nick liked it or not.

"I guess that's something he'll have to deal with when we get back" She sighed, taking a swab of the biologicals on the blanket.

"Or we could make sure it doesn't come to that..." Brass muttered, his eyes shifting to the police officers securing the building around them.

Sara understood quickly what he meant. If the evidence was never logged then it couldn't be used to discredit Nick or to give Ava a way out but while Sara wanted to help Nick avoid any repercussion's her moral standing meant much more to her than bailing out her misguided friend.

"Jim, you know we can't do that" Sara declared "That won't help anyone"

Brass thought about this for a few long moments before nodding and stepping outside. He took a long slow intake of breath and ran a hand over his face in an attempt to distill the stress he was feeling.

The two men that had been rampaging through the cabin when they arrived had been taken into custody swiftly and without celebration while Nick and Ava were still AWOL in the woods with no way to track them down.

Oddly, Brass recognised the men as known employee's of Mr Holloway. It made no sense for them to be out to find Ava with guns drawn and an air of aggression around them and it made even less sense for Ava to flee when the men were known associates of hers.

"You Okay?" Sara's voice came from behind him, her gentle hand resting on his arm and concern reflecting in her dark eyes.

He knew that if he had allowed Sara to cotton onto his torment over this case then he had been letting it affect him much more than he had realised.

"I'm fine" He grumbled, clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Nick will be ok you know. He's a smart man... most of the time" She soothed with her trademark half-smirk.

Brass knew she was right. He had immense faith in Nick's ability to keep safe what he didn't have faith in was Nick's ability to keep a level head in the situation he had found himself in. He had even less faith in his ability to see through this woman's innocent façade that Brass' team was rapidly disintegrating.

His cell phone shrilled in his pocket and broke the peace of the woodland. He didn't even bother hazarding a glance at the name before he answered, assuming it was someone from the PD chasing his tail.

"Brass?" He answered sharply. He wasn't in the mood for Ecklie chasing up paperwork or petty police officer's bickering.

"Jim, it's Nick."

The sound was so welcome and so angering all at the same time he wasn't sure where to go with it. He waved Sara over with his spare hand and she stood by his elbow listening to the conversation as it unfolded.

"Where the hell are you this time?" He demanded.

The phone crackled and he could hear Nick shifting uncomfortably as a group of people breezed past him.

"I...we found a Motel a few miles up the road" Nick muttered.

"You trying to give me palpitations here?!" He cried making Nick realise he had been misguided hiding away. "You're still with the girl?"

Nick glanced across the diner. Ava was chatting to an elderly man who was seated in the booth beside her. He held onto her hand as she listened intently to whatever he was saying a small smile across her lips the entire time.

"Yeah, she's still here..." Despite his need to sound apologetic, a smile crossed his lips as he realised he was glad she was still around. It had only been a few days but he was already dreading the day when they would have to go their separate ways.

"She told you anything interesting?" Brass pushed.

Nick was immediately on guard, feeling a strong need to defend her in the eyes of the single-minded police captain. Brass could by cynical and judgemental at times, he jumped to conclusions when he was stressed that were often the wrong ones and Nick needed for that to be the case this time.

"Like what Jim?" He hissed.

He was aware it sounded like a threat and he should have held back the venom in his voice. Brass responded as he would have expected; with anger and aggression.

"Like why most of her father's business endeavours are in her name, or why she got a substantial lump sum into her account 3 days after Malcolm flew back from a suspected drug run... or why she changed her car 8 times last year..." Brass went on the attack, his voice becoming louder and more irate with every word.

"I'm sure there's an explanation for all that..." Nick sighed.

He couldn't think of one off the top of his head but he had this need inside him to keep his faith in her. A part of it, he knew, was a selfish need for justification. If she was innocent then his actions over the past few days would mean nothing substantial but if it turned out that she had something to hide then his every move would be placed under the microscope and he wasn't sure he had enough faith in her to defend his actions if it did.

"Yeah, me too" Brass bit, Nick could sense the sarcasm and disbelief in his tone. He had already decided Ava was bad news, all he had to do was prove it.

She kept glancing up at him from across the room, as though she was checking he was still there and hadn't made a run for it. If this had been yesterday then he probably would have, he had been so angry he could think of nothing but putting distance between them but in the short time that had passed since then something had changed. She had relaxed around him, like the weight of her lies had been lifted from her shoulders and he had found himself enjoying her company even more than he had before.

"Look Jim, I've spent a bit of time with her now and-"

He was cut off by Brass and his bitter tone.

"Oh we know all about that"

His heart somersaulted in his chest, bearing the brunt of the instant guilt that was loaded on him. He should have seen this coming, it was a given that they would find evidence of what had happened between them in the cabin. They would find evidence back in the Motel room too if they decided to check there.

"We can talk about that when I get back but I can tell you now that she can explain everything..." Nick stated confidently, sincerely hoping that he was right.

"We'll just have to see about that then won't we?" Brass declared "You better stay put this time. I'm coming to get you"


	12. Chapter 12

Nick made his way slowly across the diner, studying her face with renewed interest and scrutiny. The waitress set down two mugs of coffee and scurried past him with a nervous little smile as he met Ava's eye.

"This seat taken Ma'am?" He smiled on his approach.

Ava bit down gently on her bottom lip and smiled sweetly up at him, twisting a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I've been waiting for a tall, dark, handsome stranger but I guess you'll have to do" She remarked, raising the mug to her lips casually.

Nick slid into the chair across from her with a small chuckle. As much as he hated to admit it, he enjoyed the mental sparring with her. Their relationship had begun that way. Bickering and sarcasm were the foundations everything they had was based on.

"He's probably riding off into the sunset with my swimsuit model" Nick grinned.

Ava raised an eyebrow and failed to fight the smile tugging at her lips.

"I think I might have to move seats for that remark Nicky" She teased nodding to the seat behind her and the elderly man she had chatted with earlier "I bet Mr Brent over there could show me a much better time"

"Charming" He sighed, matching her actions and raising his mug "Brass is on his way"

Ava's mood changed almost instantly. He could feel the nervous tension filling her body from across the table and she nodded sadly while staring into her coffee mug. He wondered, not for the first time, what was going through her mind. It was apparent that she was highly skilled in hiding her emotion's. There was untold depth in the recesses of her mind and he knew he had barely scraped the surface.

"It'll be ok" He muttered, placing his hand over hers. He sought out her eye contact, finally capturing her gaze and holding her eye for a long stolen moment.

"I know" She nodded lacing her fingers through his and staring down at the pyramid their hands made on the table.

"You know...Brass said a few things I think we should probably talk about..." He began, carefully gauging her reaction before he continued. "He's going to have some questions"

He was almost certain he saw a slight frown cross her brow before she met his eye again. The soft, welcoming expression she had worn before was gone, replaced by what he could only describe as disappointment.

"I won't say anything about us if that's what you're worried about" She immediately withdrew her hand, returning it to the coffee mug and blowing air into the mixture inside.

He could see why she would be confused and in a way it was reassuring to realise that she had her own doubts and concern's about their union progressing into the 'real world'. It was a prospect that worried him too, he knew that they had fallen into each others arms in a moment of weakness and trauma. It had never been discussed out loud what would happen when they returned, it had never masqueraded as a relationship and neither one of them seemed able to admit they wanted it to be.

"That's not what I meant Ava, he already knows about that...about this." He couldn't help the smirk crossing his lips as he watched her try to suppress her own coy smile.

"So this is ... a 'thing?" She questioned, insecurity presenting in her voice.

"Do you want it to be a 'thing'?" Nick responded finding the way she avoided all but miniscule eye contact quite entertaining.

"Do _you _want it to be a thing?" She threw back, peering at him over her coffee mug.

He suddenly realised he had no idea how to answer that question. The truth of the matter was he knew little about her and while he couldn't claim he knew everything about every woman he dated he was certain that he knew a lot more about them before he declared their relationship was a 'thing'.

"Let's... get back to Vegas and see how it goes. You might hate me by then" He declared after a moment of thought.

"Are you planning on doing something horrible on the journey home?" She asked, stroking his face gently with her soft hand.

Nick shook his head indicating no, almost burrowing into her hand. He allowed her fingertips to graze across his lips and closed his eyes at the sensation, feeling his heart beating out an uneven rhythm as a result.

When he opened his eyes he was met by the deep darkness of her eyes as she studied his face carefully. He was about to move in for a kiss when her eyes grew wide and focussed on the huge window behind them. Her hand dropped onto the table and Nick turned to see what was causing this reaction.

Brass' arrival came with its own ceremony. Lights filled the small diner and the screech of siren's filled the air. A line of cop cars pulled up outside and the officers spilled out en masse, storming into the quiet little diner as though they were there to arrest a mass murderer.

"No cause for alarm" Declared Brass, marching through the door and taking in the concerned faces watching him.

Nick stood quickly, forcing the table to shudder as he did so. Two officers appeared at the side of Brass and Ava met his eye with a tiny shake of her head. He had a sudden realisation of what was happening as the officers crossed the room headed straight for Ava. It hit him like a sledgehammer to the gut, stealing the breath from his lungs so that all he could do was watch as they cuffed her hands behind her back and promptly led her out to one of the vehicles.

"What the hell's going on Jim?" He demanded as soon as he had got his breath back.

"She was a fugitive Nick, a suspect in a high stakes case and she took off" Brass shot back, turning to join his officers at the cars.

Nick glanced outside and took in her silhouette in the police car. Her eyes eventually sought out his again, tears brimming onto her eyelashes. His heart began to race as panic set in. She was being arrested, hauled into the police station like a lousy criminal and in that moment he suddenly knew not only how he felt about her but also that she was innocent in all this. Whatever they uncovered back in the city he was absolutely certain she had done nothing wrong and he was going to fight for her.

"Jim, this is wrong" He cried "She was with me, she was protecting me"

"Yeah well, we'll see about that. Won't we?" Brass scoffed, not stopping to indulge in conversation or debate. He had made up his mind already and while Nick could understand his apprehension in trusting her, he wasn't going to allow him to arrest her like this.

"You have nothing on her" Nick declared confidently.

"Oh yeah? Why don't you ask her who she called from the motel then? I got a LOT of question's for this girl Nicky so back off"

Nick was left reeling for a few long moments. He had been steering towards asking that when the LVPD had descended. She hadn't technically lied about it because he hadn't been able to ask yet so he had no idea what to make of Brass accusation.

"Jim, please...at least take the cuffs off. She's hurt...they must be agonising" His eyes involuntarily drifted to look in the window.

She sat with her head bowed, her shoulders trembling and her hair falling over her face unceremoniously. He wanted nothing more than to go to her, he suddenly craved the scent of her skin and the warmth of her embrace. He had a strong need to feel her lips against his and brush her hair out of her face so he could gaze into her eyes and he knew he couldn't do any of that.

Brass relented and opened the door wide to release the cuffs that bit into her wrist's. Nick hovered nervously behind him, watching every movement but feeling somehow detached from it all, like he was watching it through a screen. It wasn't reality, at least he couldn't seem to accept it as such because accepting it would mean admitting he could have been duped by the soft pink hue of her skin or the ruby red of her lips or the way her hand fluttered against his arm like the wings of a butterfly when he least expected it.

"You can have a word before we go" Jim muttered, meeting his eye with a stern frown. It was a warning, he was being granted a word but it wasn't a private word or a poignant one. It was a goodbye. "Make it quick"

Nick nodded, conveying all his thanks in one relieved look as he crouched down in front of the open door and took her hands into his. Her wrists were already marked from the unforgiving metal of the cuffs and she was clearly struggling to keep her emotions in check.

"I'm sorry Nick, I promise I haven't done anything wrong" She sobbed.

"We'll fix this ok? I'll make this ok" He pressed kisses against her hands as Brass paced impatiently and huffed out a breath. "We'll be ok... "

Ava nodded meekly as he pushed himself up to kiss her lips but Brass hand clamped firmly around his shoulder.

"Times up loverboy...save that for the conjugal at Florence McClure" He mocked.

Nick immediately saw red but Ava's eyes begged him to let it go and he couldn't deny her that when she was about to face some heavy questioning from Las Vegas' finest. Instead he viciously shrugged off Brass' hand and pressed a passionate kiss against her lips. He let his fingers lace through her hair as he committed the moment to memory.

It could have meant many things; a bittersweet goodbye, a reason to keep fighting, a promise, an act of defiance.

He wasn't sure which one it really was.


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N: So, I'd like to apologise for not responding to your reviews personally. I barely seem to get time to breathe right now but I have read and do cherish every word... the reviews are the lifeblood of FF so thank you from the bottom of my bleeding heart for your support/input/advice/ramblings ;) THIS chapter took me about 20mins...I thought it would be a hard one to read but I seemed to have this strange outpouring of inspiration. I hope it is satisfactory...I kind of like it but I wasn't a fan of the last one and apparently you were so you tell me. :) love you all **_

_**Charli xx**_

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The sun hung low over the city as the small fleet of police cars wound its way towards it. Nick could feel his chest tighten with every passing mile and despite his best efforts to focus on the peaceful mirage-like image painted before him he found himself drawn to the vehicle directly in front of him. The entire journey he had replayed every moment they spent together. His mind was awash with every tender smile and every stolen kiss.

He would readily admit that things had progressed between them with overwhelming intensity. He had always been a man who led with his heart but usually his head agreed, this time he was actively suppressing the voice screaming at him to slam on the brakes.

By the time they reached the police station sunset had lost its fight to remain and darkness cloaked the city. This was the place he remembered, a place where sin was sexy and crime reigned supreme. The huge grey building stood ominously against the dark sky like an old enemy. He had never noticed before how shaded the windows were or how lifeless and empty it felt from the outside. It was strange considering it was a hive of activity within the cold concrete of the walls. He stepped out of the car and gazed up at it, reeling through the process she would now have to go through. It was the same routine for everyone who was arrested, he knew it like the back of his hand.

He realised something else standing there, something he knew would seem ridiculous and inconceivable to anyone else but something he knew was true from the very bottom of his heart; He loved her. He could deny it to everyone but himself and he was certain she knew it when she looked into his eyes because he saw the same honesty reflected in hers. He also knew that he would do whatever he could to get her out of custody and back into his arms.

He followed the procession through the winding corridors of the police station but branched off when she was taken for processing. He couldn't watch her be treated that way, like any other faceless criminal they brought through the doors. He had to find Brass, what ever this vendetta was that he had against her Brass needed to know he was wrong and Nick fully intended to go above his head.

"Nick, I really don't want to get into this with you right now" Brass sighed as he shunted past him into his office. He took a seat behind his desk and began signing the pile of paperwork waiting for him without looking up.

"Well I think you're gonna have to Jim" Nick insisted.

Brass glanced up and then dipped his head as though relenting.

"Look, come in and take a seat" He muttered, standing to close the door behind him.

Nick did as he was instructed, sitting in the deep red armchair by the police captains desk and folding his arms in a final act of defiance. Jim offered him a brandy, completely ignoring his refusal and placing the glass of dark liquid on the desk in front of him.

"She wasn't running away, Nick. And she wasn't protecting you either"

"You're wrong" Nick interrupted, but Brass was already shaking his head.

"Hear me out OK. Trust me, I don't just go around arresting people for no reason"

Nick sighed and took his brandy in one swig. He knew it was true, Brass may be head-strong, stubborn and sometime's downright rude but he couldn't be accused of not following the rules when it came to making an arrest or a charge. He knew how easy it was for the wrong people to get away simply because of a mistake in the paperwork or a tiny accident of protocol.

"Fine, tell me what you have" Nick braced himself for the worst. He had learned quickly that expecting the worst often helped when waiting for bad news, that way you could be surprised when it wasn't that bad.

"You know I can't do that" Brass answered, leaning back in his seat. "You're involved"

"How can I be involved? I haven't done anything..." Nick cried.

"Maybe not, but you were out there with her... we'll need to question you too"

"What exactly do you think she's done, Jim? I'm going to find out sooner or later" Nick demanded. Brass knew he was right, he could see him giving in right before his eyes.

"We found a substantial bank account she hadn't disclosed... the money was coming from Terry Clinton" Brass declared "It was under the name of Ava Clinton...we think she may have orchestrated the whole thing"

Nick took a moment to let his accusation sink in. He considered the possibility he had been merely a pawn in all of this, a means of escape and she had manipulated him from the start. It didn't even bear thinking about when he realised how much of himself he had let her have, she had taken more than just his body and if he found out it had all been a lie it would tear him apart.

At that very moment she was walked past the room, cuffs on her hands and flanked by two sombre looking officers. He watched her move, he saw the sadness in her eyes and the humiliation and when she met his eyes he saw hurt and sorrow. She was innocent, maybe not of receiving the money but he knew that she hadn't created this whole elaborate scam. You couldn't fake emotions like that, the depth of feeling he found in her eyes was something he knew nobody could create no matter how good an actress they were.

"She was shot Jim, she could have died...and you think she made it all up?" Nick argued.

"How do you explain the _several mil_ in that account... or the fact that she called Mr-head of a rival crime family - Clinton from the motel before you called me?" Brass retaliated.

"I can't" Nick groaned. He could feel his reality crashing in around him at a spectacular rate. He wondered if the account had been opened for her child, or the vague possibility she didn't even know about it. The phone call on the other hand, he couldn't simply explain away with her back story.

"Look, let me question her and see how it goes...but be ready for the onslaught because if she's the bad guy in all of this you'll have a lot of questions to answer too" Brass explained, patting him on the shoulder as a symbol of consolation. It did little to abate his rising panic.

"I need some air" Nick muttered, pulling himself somewhat groggily to a standing position in front of Brass.

With a nod Brass led him out of the office and into the corridor. "I'll be in interrogation 2"

He told him this with an expression that told him everything he needed to know. Brass wanted him to listen, he wanted him to witness the interrogation for himself so that he would be able to accept the answer's she gave.

Nick took a deep breath of the cool fresh air outside and watched the passing cars as though he was cloaked in a haze. He couldn't seem to shake off his internal conscience telling him she was innocent.

"Maybe she didn't do it" Came Sara's soothing tone from somewhere near his elbow.

He didn't turn around, his eyes were focussed in the middle distance. Staring at the cars and the people passing by but not really seeing any of them. Sara's hand rested on his shoulder, a gesture of reassurance and companionship he gratefully received.

"What if she did?" He sighed. It was something he felt guilty even verbalizing, as though speaking the words somehow meant he had accepted them as truth.

"What she needs right now, more than anything, is your faith. Trust me, without the faith of the people you love...you have nothing" She declared.

There was more truth in her words than either of them would care to admit. They had both been on the other end of the interrogation table and knew exactly how it felt.

"What if I put my faith in her and she's been lying?" He uttered quietly.

It was an idea he had toyed with a lot lately. He could be made out to be a fool, putting his trust in a woman who gave him absolutely no reason to trust her.

"What if you don't and she hasn't?" Sara pointed out.

She was right of course, he would much rather find out he had been humiliated by her lies than carry the guilt of dismissing her when she was innocent.

Nick turned to find her eyes fixed on the distance too, reminiscing perhaps about the times when she had needed their faith and their support. He was infinitely grateful he had been able to give her his support and unwavering loyalty when she had needed it, even when it had looked hopeless.

He wrapped her in his arms, whispering a soft thanks in her ear before leaving her to her thoughts and returning to the lab to face the music.


	14. Chapter 14

Nick found himself standing on the other side of a two way mirror watching as Brass read out the obligatory interrogation speech to Ava. She was only half paying attention, he could tell by the way her eyes darted nervously around the room and her hands grasped a single finger over and over again. It was a nervous habit he had never seen in her before but one he knew meant she was struggling immensely with this situation.

"Ok, if ever there was a time to come clean, this is it" Brass declared as he strode across the room and took his chair. He leant his arms on the table, analyzing Ava's expression carefully.

She didn't flinch. Not a single bit, instead she rested her now clasped hands on the table and met his eye with a measured amount of defiance.

"I haven't done anything" she declared.

Brass held her eye, he was highly skilled in breaking through a suspects hard shell and finding the confession inside. Nick was confident that if she was hiding something Brass would get it out of her. He was also terrified of the exact same thing.

"Okay, so this bank account has nothing to do with you?" Brass slid a piece of paper across the sleek tabletop but his eyes remained focussed firmly on her. Ava scanned the numbers, her eyes growing wide and her mouth gaping open slightly in shock.

"I...didn't even know about this..." She insisted, turning back to the papers to study them further. Nick didn't know what was on them, he may never find out but Brass had been clear that there was a substantial amount of money there.

"Terry Clinton has paid you a million dollars every year for 8 years and you know nothing about it?!" Brass cried.

His words seemed to echo in the air, the sound of 8 million dollars hovering heavily in the room as Ava stood there with a shocked expression and a trembling lip. It was a lot of money, she could do anything she wanted to with 8 million dollars at her disposal. It seemed a bit off to him that she hadn't.

"Do you think I would still be in Vegas if I did?" She retaliated, as though reading his thoughts.

Brass didn't believe her. It was evident in everything he did, the way he moved, his tone of voice, even his eye contact spoke volumes. Ava didn't stand a chance in there but Nick knew she stood less chance if he interfered.

"You tell me" Brass spat.

Ava hovered her fingers over the paper before sliding it across the table towards Brass.

"I didn't touch that money" She almost whispered.

Brass let out a long sigh and sat back in his chair. He allowed the silence to persist between them as he watched her. He was waiting for her tell, a nervous twitch that would tell him she was lying but Nick could see nothing and he was sure Brass was coming up empty too.

"You gotta see this from my point of view...Terry pays money into this secret account then in a fit of jealousy Joey takes it out on your dad...only he's not exactly a hitman is he? He ends upon the coroner's table and you disappear with my CSI while all hell breaks loose out here"

Ava had begun shaking her head almost as soon as Brass started talking, there was panic rising in her eyes as she realised exactly where Brass was going with his line of questioning. Nick wasn't sure what she had thought previously but she certainly wasn't prepared for this.

"I don't know why Joey did what he did" She declared, her voice breaking towards the end of the sentence "but its nothing to do with me"

"The dad connection and all this money is just a coincidence?" Brass raised his eyebrows making it clear that he wouldn't be willing to accept a simple explanation for this whole thing.

Nick had to admit Brass' theory made sense. Joey was just the type of person to fly gun-ho into a fight without thinking it through and in a fit of jealousy people often did stupid things. It was plausible that when he felt threatened by Ava's relationship with his dad. Whatever that relationship may be.

"I told you already, I didn't know about the money" Ava whispered.

Brass didn't relent with the questioning though. As hard as it was for Nick to watch he knew that Brass pretty much had her exactly where he wanted. She was vulnerable, scared and alone. If she was going to confess to anything then now was the opportune moment for him to get it out of her.

"Let's talk about the phone call" Brass declared, leaning forward to gather her eye contact again.

"What phone call?" She questioned, a frown on her brow and a single tear travelling slowly down her cheek. Nick felt an overwhelming need to go to her and comfort her. She was scared, that much was obvious to anyone and his comfort would do nothing but alienate him from Brass even further. Something which neither of them needed right now.

"You called Terry from the Motel" Brass stated, sliding another piece of paper across the table "What was that all about?"

Ava seemed genuinely shocked that Brass had this information. Nick found himself suddenly intrigued as to what her reasoning had been for the call. He had meant to ask her himself it had been something plaguing his mind since the moment he had found out about it.

"I... I wanted to make sure we were safe" She muttered nervously "I needed to know it was ok for us to come back"

"Nick and the rest of the LVPD wasn't good enough for you" Brass attacked "We couldn't protect you?"

Ava pushed her body back in her chair as though retreating from the anger in Brass' voice.

"You didn't do it before" She finally answered. "You left us to be shot at, to run for our lives..."

"Yeah, see that's another problem I'm having. The guy who shot up your house by all accounts worked for your dad" Brass informed her. Something Nick hadn't been privy to before and something even he had to admit seemed suspicious.

"That's impossible" Ava stated with some conviction.

"The men in the cabin were too...but you already knew that didn't you?"

Nick had wondered about that too. Those men had an excellent opportunity to kill her out in those woods. They could have easily shot her and left without causing any fuss and yet they stood in front of her and watched her walk away. It didn't make any sense and it had hovered in the back of his mind ever since. She had been able to suppress that doubt easily in the cocoon they had created out there but here the need for honesty became so much greater.

"I didn't even see those men" She lied.

This made a knot twist violently in his stomach. He couldn't justify her lying and he couldn't understand it either.

"Ok, here's what I think happened." Brass began "You and Terry have some kind of an arrangement. I dunno, maybe you're some kind of spy or his lover even. It all hits the fan when Joe finds out his inheritance is getting spent on some girl. It gets worse when he finds out who this girl is, he see's red. Decides to take out the very thing you're stealing from him and winds up dead. Now both sides have a score to settle with one woman - you"

"No, that's not true" Ava defended, but Brass was on a roll and continued his onslaught.

"Of course you knew all this. You've been playing them off against each other and you fooled us all. You drag Nick right into the middle of this thinking we'd let you off if you seduce him. You used him to keep us off the trail but it didn't work..."

"No!" Ava cried "I didn't use Nick for anything, I swear"

"I wonder how many other cops you tried before landing yourself Nick...but it was necessary wasn't it? Of course you'll deny it, you know he's on the other side of the glass, maybe you care about him a little bit...obviously not enough to tell him the truth"

Hearing Brass say it out loud only made him feel worse. He wondered if he could really have been naïve enough to fall for someone who had so obviously been playing him all along. Part of him wanted to convince himself he had been fooled by a master criminal so that he wouldn't have to feel the heartache of the truth when he eventually heard it but another part of him knew that this kind of connection couldn't be one-sided.

"You're wrong...I do care about him" Ava sobbed.

"Nobody is buying this playing the victim thing Ava so let it go and tell the truth" Ava was shaking her head, tears now flowing freely down her face. Nick found himself unable to stay on the other side of the mirror. Brass was being unreasonably harsh. "All you've succeeded in doing is ruining several lives - Nick may even be included in that"

Ava didn't respond, she looked genuinely horrified. Brass stood and leaned on the table by her side, his shadow casting over her in an intimidating fashion as he spoke through gritted teeth.

"We will look through every moment of your life if we have to, we'll find something...anything to prove you did it, Nick won't be able to save you from that"

"That's enough Jim" Nick declared as he burst through the doors. Ava didn't even turn around, she buried her face in her hands and sobbed, her shoulder shaking with the effort.

Brass' attending officer stood up, his chair screeching across the floor dramatically. There was already a small crowd gathering outside, people grasping for gossip, their eyes fixed on the tiny room.

"You need to get out of here" Brass cried, holding his hand up to the officer placed on the other side of the room to halt his approach.

"Are you charging her with anything?" Nick questioned.

Brass' eyes flew to the woman seated in the chair, Nick could almost feel his brain working overtime to make the decision. He knew he didn't have enough evidence to charge her, everything was circumstantial or theoretical.

"Not yet" Brass declared, making a point of growling down on her and emphasising the 'yet'.

"Then you need to let her go" Nick demanded "This is all suspicion, attacking her won't do any good"

Brass hesitated for a second before twitching his head towards the door and raising a shoulder. It was his indication that Nick could take her out of the room but as Ava looked up at him he uttered one last warning into her ear.

"Right now all I have is suspicion but I'll be seeing you again. That I can promise you"


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thank you for your reviews. It's always interesting and enjoyable to hear what you think and how you think this is going so please keep it coming :) This chapter was hard to get done since it is a bit of a bridge but hopefully you will enjoy and the next chapter will be much quicker. Gotta love some drama and I am cooking me up some interesting twists for this story :) Love you all, you know what to do! Charli xx**

"Come on Ava" Nick instructed with a sudden air of authority.

He kept his eyes fixed on Brass as she slowly stood from her chair and moved towards him. She had her head bowed and her eyes fixed on the floor, a silent tear dropping onto the shining tiles as she moved. Brass stood by the door, his presence over-bearing and aggressive but he let her go, despite his anger.

As they walked through the lab the eyes of all his friends and colleagues were on them. Some judging and scrutinising, some sympathetic and understanding. It was still dark outside as they stepped into the parking lot. Nick had draped his arm protectively around Ava's shoulders and he now tightened his grip as a shiver crossed her body and he felt her flinch in pain.

"We should get you to a hospital" He remarked, remembering her injury.

"No, I just want to go home" She whispered, almost as though she had no energy left to speak.

"Your house is still a crime scene" Nick reminded her, a gentle smile forming on his lips.

"Then I'll go to a motel" She stated.

Nick was almost tempted to agree. It would probably be the wisest decision he would have made when it came to her but instead he felt the need to keep her close. Whether for her own protection or for his he couldn't quite tell.

"You can come home with me like we agreed" He said.

She didn't argue simply followed him to the car and took her place in the passenger seat without another word. She fixed her eyes out of the window, lost in her own mind. Nick felt the power of the silence closing in around them as soon as he sat in the car, it seemed to cloak the atmosphere. The radio failed to drown out the heavy silence suffocating them and by the time Nick pulled up outside his house he was completely out of idea's on how to break it. He killed the engine and looked up at the darkened windows and the trees shifting in the breeze. Ava shifted uncomfortably as he stole glances towards her, the silence stretching on a lot longer than either of them would have liked.

"Thank you" She eventually whispered, the words hovering in the air between them "For getting me out of there"

Nick hazarded a quick sideways glance towards her before returning his vision to the steering column. He could feel the intensity of her eyes burning into him but he knew better than to succumb to her eye contact right now. He needed her honesty and he wouldn't get that if he fell into her eyes again.

"Tell me I didn't make a huge mistake" He begged.

The thought had been plaguing him the entire journey home. If he was wrong about her he wouldn't just be putting his friendship with Brass on the line. He stood to lose the respect of the entire lab, his credibility and his career.

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

It was probably a rhetorical question. She knew what he meant, it was glaringly obvious what he meant.

"I think I deserve the truth, Ava" His voice was harsh and unemotional. He knew that and it was intentional. He needed to keep a level head if he was going to have this conversation with her. He needed to keep his heart out of it.

"The truth..." She repeated, her voice stopping short and her eyes dragging away from him and to the world outside. It was almost as though she was weighing up her options. The time stretching out in the silence until Nick could hear his heart thudding in his chest with an increasingly sporadic rhythm. He was as scared as she was that the truth wouldn't be what he wanted to hear. When she finally spoke she didn't offer any answers though. "I already told the truth"

"What about those men?" He challenged "You told Brass you didn't see them...but you did. You looked right at them"

He turned to face her now, his concern at her lies suddenly greater than his strange need to look after her. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights, her wide eyes looking back at him and her words falling silent on her lips. She reached out to touch his arm, an action that made him flinch and that in turn brought tears to her eyes.

"It just slipped my mind I guess...I don't know what happened" She explained. He wasn't sure what to believe, it was certainly possible that the trauma of the past few days had stopped her from thinking straight. He wasn't sure he was thinking straight himself so he could hardly blame her for feeling the same way.

"I'm sorry" She muttered, her hand resting gently and cautiously on his arm. He didn't flinch this time, he reached out to her and covered her hand with his own. "I'll go back and make a statement about it if you like..." She offered.

At this stage he knew the lab would be winding down for the day shift. Her file would be placed on Brass' desk ready for him to analyze when he went back on shift. All her lab results would be getting run and the usual collection of evidence and information that goes on in the background of every case would be running its course quite nicely. Her confession could wait until later, it would have little or no impact on the case anyway.

"Just, please tell me I won't regret this" he asked her, shaking his head and watching his fingers gently stroke hers as they rested on his arm.

She pulled away, leaving a cold patch of skin where her hand had been. He wondered for a moment if he had offended her, something he didn't want to do. It was necessary he asked these questions of her for his own peace of mind but it wasn't necessary that he upset her with his lack of trust. He was treading a fine line between the two and he could feel himself losing balance with every tiny step.

"I promise" She eventually spoke, reaching out to stroke his face. She made sure he was holding eye contact and pressed a gentle, fleeting kiss against his lips "You have nothing to worry about"

With a wary nod, Nick left the car. Ava lingered inside for a little longer, obviously steeling her thoughts and settling her nerves. This was a tense time for both of them, not only was she facing a torrent of questions and the arrest of her own father but she had untold enemies following her and a sidekick who wasn't entirely sure he could trust her.

Nick's home was a typical male environment, almost the exact opposite to hers. He didn't have trinkets and memento's dotted around and only a handful of sentimental photographs were on display. Sam pricked his ears up and sniffed at her suspiciously, he was always a great judge of character but even he couldn't figure Ava out. The disgruntled dog trudged back to his bed with an exaggerated huff as Nick read the notes left on the fridge from the dog walker.

Ava carefully studied his living room, her eyes scanning over the masculine furniture and dark wood flooring like it was exactly as she had imagined it would be. Nick threw the notes into the recycling bin and turned to grin at her deciding to make a real effort to distill the strange nervous tension that had settled between them.

"Would you like the grand tour?" He asked brightly.

Ava quirked a suspicious eyebrow in his direction. "What's so grand about it?"

Nick shrugged his shoulders and took her by the hand, whispering into her ear; "The tour guide"

He lead her through the hallway to the end room, opening the door with a flourish to reveal a wall of shiny black tiles and a bathroom with a high-tech shower.

"This is the bathroom..." He pointed out needlessly.

Ava folded her arms and looked around the space with an arched eyebrow. If he really thought about it he knew that this 'tour' was his attempt at removing the heaviness that had appeared between them. He craved the easy, playful conversations they had once shared.

"You know the bath kind of gives away the surprise" She remarked with a smile.

With an eye roll he clutched her hand and pulled her out of the small room and onto the next door. He was particularly proud of this room. Out of all the rooms in his house this was the most personal one and the one he spent most of his time in, despite the fact it didn't technically mean he was home and relaxing from here.

"This is my office" He declared proudly.

He opened the door with a flourish and flicked on the lights. He had decorated this one himself, framed football jerseys were placed on the walls, an old photograph of his family sat above the desk and one of the team sat by the door. He had carefully placed every item of furniture and decor to create an effective workspace but also a comfortable space he could wile away the hours in.

"You know, it might be better to turn this tour into a quiz" Ava teased, moving across the room to lean on the desk "I think I'd ace it"

"Hey, I worked hard on this room" He defended.

Ava smiled politely, taking one last lingering look around the room before taking a few steps forward and glancing outside at the sun hovering low on the horizon.

"You need a woman..." She concluded.

Nick simply shook his head and pulled her out of the room to show her the rest of the house, ending his tour with a flourish in the bedroom.

"And this is where the magic happens" He grinned, stepping back and allowing her easy access to the luxurious bedroom.

A huge leather bed stood in the centre of the room, manipulating most of the space. It was decorated in deep, dark colours with lots of soft furnishings and masculine furniture a single, neutral painting adorning the wall. It was straight out of a catalogue but he would never admit that.

Ava raised a suspicious eyebrow before entering the room, casting her eyes around slowly with an impish smile on her delicate features.

"Well...it's good but I don't know if I'd call it magic..." She teased.

Quick as a flash Nick had twisted her around in his arms and held her close in the centre of the room. He slowly allowed his hand to drift from her waist to her cheek and looked deep into her eyes.

"Is that a challenge?" He whispered as he dipped his head to caress her lips with his.

Something seemed to suddenly click into place in that moment. A hesitant surrender to contentment fell over him and he moved them both to the bed without another word passing between them.

Ava carefully followed him, her legs naturally finding their place on either side of his body as he perched on the edge of the bed. He let his hands explore the curves on her body as slowly as he could bear, his fingertips finding bare skin as often as they could. Every time he brushed against her she would grant him the gift of a sensual sigh that sent shivers cascading over his body.

His body reacted to her so quickly, he barely had time to keep up and despite all the things whirring through his brain a few seconds ago his focus was now completely on her and the way she felt pressed against him. He was suddenly hyper-aware of everything, every tender touch, every brush of skin, every time her breath danced across him when she moved. Their lips barely parted as the barriers between their skin fell to the floor.

His fingertips stroked through the long strands of her silky hair and followed the sweep of her collarbone, dancing on her shoulder as she held him close. Her lips explored his neck and his earlobe painstakingly gently. Nick opened his eyes as he continued brushing her skin, he moved both his hands lower, her bra becoming a distant memory as he discarded it.

He had learned through trial and error that the act of being a good lover depended on your ability to read your partner. Not only did you have to learn their tastes fairly quickly but also anticipate how to proceed without too much hesitation or uncertainty. Nick knew that Ava preferred a gentle lover and as a result of that he made a conscious effort to caress her breasts with a feather like touch that was bound to leave her breathless and begging for more.

He had almost forgotten about her bandages. He was so lost in the heat and passion of the moment that he found he was genuinely surprised when his hands found the soft fabric.

She pulled away ever so slightly, words still evading her gasping breath. Her eyes were wide and desperate, he knew she wouldn't ask him to stop now even if she wanted to and that put pressure on him to make the decision. He studied her heaving torso carefully, she had insisted she was in no pain, the question was whether she was being honest about it or not.

Ava drew her nails slowly along his forearms and bit down on her bottom lip. Nick had been naïve thinking he could honestly resist. His lips returned to hers with renewed passion and he had forgotten all about his decision to be a gentle attentive lover she craved. He was ravenous and luckily so as Ava.

She pulled him against her as though she simply couldn't get close atmosphere seemed to shift around them, the air lingering like cigarette smoke as they shifted. It was the way their eyes met. The feeling of their wandering hands. It was as if the world had stopped to revolve around them and the moment seemed to seep through their pores as they fell into place together.

Her hips began to rock against him, enticing him further until he simply threw her back on the bed and tangled their bodies together in a culmination of all the tension the evening had created. He felt the familiar warmth of sheer lust coating over his skin, a dizzy feeling capturing his mind as his body connected to hers in the most amazing ways.

She always seemed so in tune with his body, he was lost in the whirlwind of their lovemaking and before he knew it his entire body was alive, burning with passion and reaching a climax that made him shudder and tremble against her. Ava's nails dug into his firm shoulders as she tensed against him and refused to let go until his energy reserves failed him completely and he collapsed onto the bed beside her, breathing heavily and with dewy eyes looking back at her.

She propped her head up on her elbow and traced gentle patterns on his chest as he lay there. their eyes sought out each other, searching for a connection that was more than just physical. Ava smiled softly before she kissed him and laid her head in the crook of his arm, settling in beside him like it was already where she was meant to be and strangely enough he agreed.

It felt natural, comfortable and familiar, which is why when he woke to not only an empty bed but also an empty house he felt like his soul had been torn from him with lightening speed. She was gone, and he had no idea where.


	16. Chapter 16

It occurred to him that he wasn't actually surprised by her vanishing act, a part of him had expected it all along. Nick aimlessly padded around the apartment receiving nothing but a whine from Sam as he paced at the front door. Shamefully he found himself running through a mental catalogue of his belongings, just in case anything was missing. She wasn't a thief but he was beginning to question everything he ever thought about her.

There was no way for him to get in contact with her, her cell phone had been destroyed and her home was shut down. His conscience told him he needed to inform Brass, she had run out on him and he was the only reason she wasn't behind bars. Now he wouldn't be able to protect her from any of the troubles coming her way and nobody really knew what kind of people were after her.

With a heavy sigh he searched for his phone. He had to at least make an attempt at tracking her down and if he had to call on Brass to do that then so be it.

It just so happened that before he could do that Brass beat him to it.

"Look Nicky, somethings come up I think we should talk about" Brass began without even wasting time with pleasantries. He was worried and it was obvious with every sound that left his lips.

"She's gone Jim, I don't know where she is..." Nick confessed.

"What do you mean gone?" Brass tone changed from concern to panic immediately, Nick pressed his eyes together and massaged the bridge of his nose in an attempt to calm the headache rapidly forming behind his eyes.

"Well...I fell asleep, after...you know, and she was gone when I woke up" Nick realised how bad it sounded on his part. He and Brass had an unspoken agreement that she could be free as long as she was with him. On her own she was effectively a fugitive again and whatever else Brass had dug up on her would only further damage her case.

"I'll send out a call but you need to get in here. We need to talk" Brass declared, an ominous silence filling the air as Nick raced through the possibilities in his mind.

He signed off from the call and dressed in a haze of confusion and concern. Brass had found out something and it sounded bad but he couldn't help but focus on the fact that Ava was out there without protection from the villans encircling her. Whatever was going on, whatever she was hiding, she didn't deserve to be alone.

He took the long drive to work, slowing down with every young brunette he saw on the street. None of them were her and with every passing second he felt his concern grow greater and the knot wound in his stomach pull tighter. It was a glorious day, the sun shone on everything below it, flowers opened up to greet it and birds sang happily in the trees. He barely noticed anything as he drove on, pulling into the precinct to see Brass waiting on the stairs impatiently.

"We got a call a few minutes ago from Ava's neighbour. There's been activity at her house and a 'strange man' was seen visiting about an hour ago. We're gong to check it out" He explained.

Nick had no sooner arrived at the building than he was heading out again, following a small convoy of police cars as they snaked through the streets towards Ava's home. He knew it had to be her, what he didn't know was why she would choose to go there despite his insistence that she stayed away and despite the legalities behind it. She wasn't a foolish woman, she knew the ins and outs of law. There was no reason for her to be breaching this crime scene that would ever stand up in court as reasonable cause.

He glanced up at the windows as he pulled up outside, Brass and his officers assumed the raid position with their guns drawn and their backs protected. Nick felt a sense of despair, like he was ready to give up on her and let them take her into custody regardless of his feelings for her but at the last moment he raised his hand and called on Brass.

"Let me go in first" He begged, he knew it was unlikely Brass would allow it. CSI's were not allowed to enter buildings on their own, it was one of the golden rules of policing.

"No way Nicky..." Brass shook his head immediately dismissing his idea.

Nick continued "It's only Ava...she won't hurt me" He stated, and he was sure it was true. He didn't think she had it in her to hurt anyone but certainly not him.

After a long silent stand-off Brass simply nodded and took a step back, allowing Nick access to the apartment. As he swung open the door slowly he hazarded a backwards glance to Brass and his men. They were letting him go first but they were not letting him go alone.

"Ava?" He called into the house.

He had seen a shadow in the window, he was sure of it and everything told him she was here. He couldn't begin to find justification for it but he was still sure of it. He began to climb the stairs, holding out a hand behind him to stave off the police officers to his back.

She was stood there, by the window as though she hadn't noticed their arrival. It was impossible that was the case, they had arrived with such fanfare and dramatics that most of the street was now outside hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever was unfolding on their doorstep. Ava stared blankly out of the window, somehow detached from reality.

She wore one of his old football jerseys over her dress, one she had obviously rescued from the bottom of his wardrobe hoping he wouldn't notice. Her hair hung limply by her shoulders, lifeless and dull like her eyes now were. He had never seen her like this, even when she was desperately sick she had maintained some of the sparkle in her eyes but not now. Now she stood there like a shell, there was nothing there of the woman he knew and that frightened him.

"Ava...?" He whispered, approaching a lot slower now "Is everything ok?"

She didn't turn around right away, like there was some kind of delay in her consciousness but when she did he was faced with the sheer shock in her eyes. She looked like someone had swept her entire world from beneath her feet and she had no idea how to deal with it.

"I thought I could just come home and get some clothes..." She muttered, her eyes rapidly moving and her bottom lip trembling.

Brass was suddenly right by his side, a strong hand resting on his shoulder to remind him of his presence. Nick met his eye, a frown playing on the older mans brow as he attempted to discourage the exchange playing out. Nick shrugged him off, taking a few more steps towards Ava as she stood on the other side of the room.

"What happened Ava?" He asked her in a soothing voice. He could tell there was something seriously wrong here and it worried him more than he would care to admit.

Ava took a hasty step forward and the police officers held their weapons aloft, trained on her. With a shake of her head she retreated slightly, confused about what kind of threat she posed. Nick turned viciously, waving his hand to indicate the need for them to lower their weapons. Brass had to give the okay of course and he was less than convinced that Ava was not a threat. He allowed them to lower the weapons eventually but not to disarm, should the need arrive they would still be ready to shoot. Nick was aware of this but crucially Ava was not and she stepped forward again, her eyes shimmering with emotion and fear.

"He had a gun..." She began with a broken voice.

Nick immediately approached her, concerned she had been hurt rather than worried she was up to no good. Brass held back, choosing to watch the exchange from a distance and allow Nick to lead the way this time.

"Who had a gun Ava? Are you hurt?" He rested his hand on her arms, holding her at a short distance where he could connect with her but still scan her body for injuries.

Ava shook her head, her eyes focussing on something, or nothing, on the floor. She was so disconnected and vacant he could only assume she was suffering from some kind of post traumatic stress.

"Ava, who had a gun?" Nick continued "Talk to me please!"

Nick found himself shaking her slightly in frustration and the police officers raised their weapons slightly awaiting a response. Ava simply looked up at him with a slight frown.

"Terry..." She muttered shaking her head before returning her eyes to the floor. He could see she wasn't hurt, there was no indication of any wounds or any sort of struggle on her body.

Nick wrapped his arm around her, guiding her across the floor and towards Brass and the officers. She followed his silent instructions without protest or discussion until they stepped out onto the crisp green lawn.

The police lights seemed to snap her back to reality. The neighbours lining the streets exchanged glances and whispered judgements as Nick helped her cross towards the waiting vehicles until she stopped suddenly, shaking her head and shrugging off his protective arm.

"You don't understand!" She cried in protest. Her eyes now wild and frightened.

Nick opened the door to his truck, holding onto it as he attempted to guide her inside.

"We just need to get you to make a statement and Brass can go pick up Terry" Nick explained "You don't need to worry about him anymore"

Ava seemed to stop her protest then, for a few long moments she stood at the open door staring into space with a frown on her brow before she nodded and slid into the passenger seat. She settled her hands awkwardly on her lap as he closed the door and kept her eyes firmly fixed on the dashboard as Nick spoke to Brass outside.

"Something's going on.." He declared.

"You don't say!" Brass mocked "Terry Clinton's on observation, there's no way he managed to get in here without one of my guys spotting it" He insisted. "and besides...there's something you really need to know about Ava and Mr Clinton..."


End file.
